Our goal is to create a language-enriched environment taught primarily in Spanish with English translations. Students from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America explored the principles of design and developed related vocabulary in both languages. The students work in groups to engage in research, drawings, and conversation. The collaborative nature of the class frees up creativity and promotes a dynamic atmosphere of support and community. La Cultura de la Comida project aims at making connections between culture and traditions of food affect our sense of identity and nationality, recycling and the family. During our program we discussed the importance of recycling and using easy found materials especially during the pandemic. This was a great surprise for the students to see indigenous culture in a positive light since colonial viewpoints still dominate Caribbean and Latin America.
Con el objetivo de crear un mundo sustentable, los estudiantes de séptimo grado de la señora Guerrero en la M.S. 324, junto conmigo, exploramos la importancia de reciclar desechos y su impacto en el medio ambiente. La imaginación de los estudiantes fue estimulada al mirar el trabajo de Willie Cole, Pepón Osorio y Leo Sewell — todos artistas cuyo trabajo esta vinculado con la idea del uso de materiales reutilizados.
– Esperanza Cortés, Teaching Artist
Grade 7 students with collage self-portraits, 2021
Individual self-portraits, Untitled, 2021, collage and sequins on paper
Individual self-portraits, Untitled, 2021, collage and sequins on paper
Individual self-portraits, Untitled, 2021, collage and sequins on paper
M.S. 324 Grade 7 Threads of History students with Teaching Artist, Esperanza Cortés and M.S. 324 Science teacher Mary Guerrero, June 2021
7th grade Threads of History student at M.S. 324, 2020 [A student holds up artwork depicting her family tree.]
7th Grade students from M.S. 324 meeting online to present their El Ábol de la Familia collage projects, 2020 [A screenshot of a video call. Several students are smiling while holding up artwork that depicts their respective family trees. The art varies in size, shape, and medium.]
Student prototyping design, 2018 [A student sitting at a science room desk with a sink, drawing with a pencil on several sheets of paper. One sheet, foregrounded, has an outline of an airplane]
Collaborative team of students working on their design, 2018 [Several students stand around a large science room desk. One holds a model of a Delta airplane, smiling for the camera. The rest are busy at work.]
Collaborative team working on chandelier, 2018 [Two girls stand, cutting threads, while working on a handmade chandelier. The chandelier has a small number of flower petals, with a purple rose in the center]
Chandelier, 2018 [A handmade chandelier, suspended in the air. It has two disks hanging apart, sewn together with silver thread. A number of beads adorn the lower disk and string hanging down below.]
[Several students stand around a large desk working on mixed-media artworks. One reaches for something from another student towards the camera.]
Collaborative team designing butterfly, 2018 [Four people pose for a photo, leaning on a table with three drawings of butterflies splayed across the surface. A papier mache butterfly composed of saturated pink and gold paper and red, yellow, black and white cotton balls hangs above the people at the top right of the image.]
Reinventado, exhibition at Word Up Community Bookshop, 2018 [An exhibition view of various artworks. Several stylized portraits hang on the right; in the middle, a large didactic titled "REINVENTADO." On the left, several small photos of students in a classroom hang underneath a red-white-and blue airplane suspended from the ceiling]
MS 324 students outside Word Up Community Bookshop, 2018 [Students stand outside of a storefront in New York - Word Up Community Bookshop. In the window are several signs with Black Lives Matter and "Eat Sleep Read Local" slogans]
