Circle Dancing

I saw a flyer at the Food Coop today promoting Sacred Circle Dance, and I wonder if this is something I may like to try.

The end.

Art! Art! Art!

My son attends an inner city magnet school geared towards art and music. Every eight weeks, the school shows off the students' art work in an extravagant exhibit. The students work very diligently to create the pieces displayed. The parents and teachers work just as hard to create each exhibit mounting pieces in frames and on the walls so the school is like a gallery. Each piece of work is also labeled with the child's name, grade level and teacher (I have edited, to the best of my ability these names off the pics so as not to post any child's name online.) The artwork hangs for the next eight weeks when we do it all over again.

I am continuously proud and amazed at all the artwork and the students' interpretations of famous artwork. These kids come up with some beautiful pieces. Not only is their artwork displayed, but also throughout the school, there is dancing, singing and instrumental music. You can find something going on in every corner of the school.

The children are from all kinds of backgrounds and socioeconomic classes. On any given exhibit night the crowd of parents, grandparents, siblings and extended families range a wide diversity. It is not uncommon to hear several different languages spoken. While admiring the art work, I heard Spanish to one side of me and Chinese to the other as scores of people with all different skin colors came together for the common theme of honoring our children and their hard work.

This is a brief photo journal of only a small portion of some of the artwork. Lighting isn't always the best, and working with a flash often didn't work well, so some of the pics are blurry...that is solely my fault. All the artwork is beautiful and amazing, and these are a few that caught my eye.

Enjoy.

A study of Van Gough's Sunflowers (Fifth Grade)...

First Grade studied pioneer days and made blueberry jam (which was on display to eat), and an American Flag and many other aspects of pioneer life and East Tennessee history. During the last eight weeks, they took field trips to the Ramsey House, McClung Museum and the East Tennessee Historic Society which further enriches the learning...

I love Kindergartners' art work the best. They are still so inhibited and use the best colors. The first series is an interpretation of The Peale Family by Charles Wilson Peale


Kindergarten again...a study of color and emotion (I remember when Blue did this study, it still hangs in our dining room.)...

Fifth graders working in groups painted the next two...there are more group paintings, but I didn't have a chance to document them all.

Third graders completed the next series. I don't remember the subject because I was so amazed at the art...I think it was actually a science study. I'll post details tomorrow...







Second grade study on indigenous masks...

















Miscellaneous drawing...Fifth grade.














Let me know if you would like to see more. The photos that I took don't even begin to scratch the surface of the many pieces displayed.

End.

Harvest Moon Drum Circle

I feel no need to document Saturday's drum circle when BBMumblings did such a fine job over at Dither in her post pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.

Very few of us had any experience at drumming, and somehow it all came together. We kept a beat. We danced. And somehow 5 hours slipped by before we realized that we needed to take the kids home. I really think that we went through a time warp.

Babies were sleeping everywhere...and eventually many adults were sleeping where ever they could find a spot.

Can't wait for the next one.

Thanks BB for inspiring the best in us all.