What do you get when you mix our art teacher Sharmila with dozens of elementary school kids from Casa Chirilagua? Why, puppets and sculptures and imagination, oh my! So much to share here! Where to start? Let’s start with Alberto Giacometti, one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century whose work was particularly influenced by Cubism and Surrealism styles. Giacometti was best known for the bronze sculptures of tall, thin human figures, made between 1945 to 1960. Sharmila introduced him to the Casa Chirilagua kids, gave them some pipe cleaners (tall and thin, get it?) and off they went! We just had to share the octopus video, and we love how proud she was of her creation. And the earrings, of course. One must be properly accessorized.
Puppets were on the docket the second week! It’s amazing what kids can create with paper bags, crayons, glue, and a free imagination. Love the blue eyeshadow and eyelashes on the puppet below!
It’s hard to capture the power of improvisation with one photo (especially if the photographer is me) but this is what we have. Despite the air conditioning giving out in 95 degree heat, our improvisation teacher led 10 really cute little kids through an hour (!) of improv scenarios at Casa Chirilagua. Many Latino families live in this part of Alexandria, and this area (called “Arlandria” since it borders Arlington) was hit hard by the ravages of COVID-19. The disease, job loss, income loss, food insecurity, struggles with at-home schooling, etc., all showed up in force in Arlandria, and the Alexandria community as a whole really focused their efforts to help our neighbors living here.
By the time I arrived, improv class was ending, but I was able to capture the last game where the kids were pretending they had just landed in Guatemala. Some of these kids or their parents were born there, and these kids seemed to really enjoy an imaginary trip home. Not sure why one little girl in denim overalls is lying on the floor. It must have been part of the game. Or maybe she was just worn out?
Wednesday, July 1, was an exciting day, and not just because it is July! We held our first event with the Alexandria nonprofit Space of Her Own – a wonderful mentoring program for preteen girls. What better way to kickstart our new relationship than our She-Art project? We got to know each other over Lena’s Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap (one of my fave Alexandria pizza places, btw) then our amazing Alison McHugh led 12 girls and mentors through creating their own avatar with their own motivational phrase(s) on a 6″ x 6″ tile.
Over the next two hours the girls selected “She creates from her heart” “She turns her dreams into reality” “She makes everyone feel loved” and more as they focused on phrases that resonated with them while creating themselves with colored paper, scissors, glue, and imagination. We ended our session – way too soon – with everyone sharing their new masterpiece and why they chose and created what they did. Til next time, SOHO! We loved hanging out with you and can’t wait to do it again!
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