EARLY CHILDHOOD SWEET HEARTS M Sue Liedke y pre-kindergartners have had the pleasure of host-ing local street artists in our art studio, and it’s been an awesome opportunity for them to connect with artists in our com-munity. One such collaboration was with the wheat-paste artist Amber Lynn “Amberella,” who visited us and shared her methodology and messages of love, empowerment, and solidarity. Power Hearts Amberella’s work can be seen on walls and buildings all around Philadelphia and other major cities. As I began intro-ducing her art to my students, I found that many of them had seen her work in their own neighborhoods; they were excited to have this personal connec-tion! For this lesson, we specifically focused on her Power Hearts —giant paper hearts inspired by the famous Val-entine’s Day candies with messages of love and positivity inscribed on them. Using projected photos of her installed work, we read the words together (“Wake Up,” “I Believe in You,” “You Are Not Alone,” and oth-ers) and considered who the audience would be. Students quickly picked up on the idea that the messages in the words were meant for the artist and the viewer. Amberella speaks to this in an artist statement: The Power Hearts are about self-love and positivity toward others. They become messages of encour-agement, hope, and love for every-one. Once my work hits the streets, it’s no longer just mine, it’s yours as well. Messages of Love Students imagined what kind of per-son could benefit from hearing these messages—someone who was feeling tired, sad, or lonely. With the audience in mind, students came up with their own messages of love for Amberella’s consideration: “B My Sister,” “I Love Your Cape,” and “Give Me a Rain-bow” were all contenders, but ulti-mately “No Matter What,” (a favorite phrase from a favorite book) was selected for this collaboration. Preparation As I couldn’t take students out to actu-ally wheat paste walls in our commu-nity, Amberella and I decided that we could apply the same methodology to prepared canvases. The art classes lead-ing up to her visit were spent apply-ing gesso and painting canvases with monochromatic color schemes. We had canvases of all sizes and painted with acrylic, using the easels, tabletops, and even the floor as workspace. Some 28 JANUARY 2020 SchoolArts
School Arts Magazine January 2020: Page 30
