First, “Soul of a Nation…Art in the Age of Black Power 1963 – 1983” is a wonderful exhibit, and everyone enjoyed it. Nineteen McClymonds girls and two chaperones attended, representing two student groups: the FLY girls (First Love Yourself) and YES (Young Empowered Sisters).
We left McClymonds at 9:15 am in a luxury/limo bus (we would call it a party bus) and arrived at the museum in less than an hour. The girls first had an art project to make patches answering the following questions – How is art used as a tool of Empowerment and how can art send messages that are also a form of activism? The art instructors asked the girls who their Black heroes were and encouraged them to make patches with a message that is meaningful for them. The girls did a great job and there were some powerful messages on their patches.
After the art project, we divided into two groups and had a tour of the exhibit, which again is awesome and powerful. The docents were excellent, and Miss Alberta also played a role in describing some of the paintings–the girls were encouraged to express what they saw in the paintings and mixed media pieces and how they felt about them. We headed back at 1:00 pm. We had arranged for turkey sandwich box lunches which the museum café brought to the bus, and we ate our lunch on the way back, arriving at the school shortly after 2 pm. Link Angelina prepared snack bags for all of us for the ride over, so we were well fed. The girls said they had a good time, and I am glad we were able to provide this great educational opportunity for them, which they had never experienced before.
Thanks to our Link Chaperones, Carolyn, Cherisse, Nicole, Radonna and Denise S. A special thanks to Link Carolyn who made the initial contact with the museum and gave the girls an overview of the exhibit before we got on the bus. Link Carolyn showed them copies of pictures they were going to see in the museum with a questionnaire of ‘what might the artist be saying about a nation or a community or an individual. The students wrote answers to the questions, which was a great introduction for what was to come.
Submitted by Link Loriane, Arts Facet Chair
