Students in Mr. Thomas Diorio's Social Studies class participated in a hands-on art workshop with visiting artist Moriah Ray-Britt and Art Teacher Ms. Audra Donroe. Similar to Ms. Patty Caracappa, Ms. Audra Donroe is a recipient of the 2022 Peace Grant! Her goal for the Grant was to help create an interdisciplinary art experience for students to apply their knowledge of Social Studies in a new and unique way through printmaking. As a result, students created three large-scale collaborative collages of the branches of government with their classmates aligning perfectly with the Social Studies curriculum.
The workshop was held over two days, where students learned the art of Gelli Printmaking, made their own papers featuring symbols that represent them, and then worked together to make each branch of government. Each collage is filled with painted papers made by each student. By doing this, students saw themselves as part of the art-making process, learned a new technique, and worked together to meet a common goal. While creating, students reflected on each branch's role with Mr. Thomas Diorio, and in order to remember their function (how the Judicial Branch evaluates laws, the Executive Branch carries out laws, and how the Legislative Branch helps make the laws) mixed in corresponding images into the collages. For example, the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, were added to the Executive Branch’s design so that students recognize where the President resides.
Thanks to the Peace Project Grant, students could create a symbolic representation of the three branches of government that made the content learning relevant to them. The Assistance in Art Education and the US Department of Education funds the grant. Ms. Donroe and Ms. Caracappa, whose workshop was previously highlighted, were selected to participate in the program’s cohort year. Throughout the year, recipients engage in various professional learning activities that enrich their understanding of using art as an interdisciplinary learning tool to empower student learners. When we correctly promote art as a learning tool, we help students actively make connections between what they are learning and what they may already know.