Bridgeport Students Design Westport Library

Forty-four students from three Bridgeport schools attended Westport Library last Tuesday as part of their ongoing participation in a Peer Docent Program offered by the Housatonic Museum of Art. During the field trip, award-winning architect Thom Mayne presented the children with examples of architecture, then they let their imaginations fly, designing their own versions of the Westport Library on graph paper.

“Architecture doesn’t start with a drawing, it starts with an idea,” said Mayne, who is a part of the Turnaround Arts Program led by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. “The idea becomes the drawing, which becomes the manifestation.”

Deborah White, the Westport Library’s Children’s Librarian shared plans for the library’s redesign, and the students, aged eleven to thirteen, were encouraged to think about why we put books in one place we call libraries, and how we use the building. Their drawings reflected that thinking.

“There is a café on the bottom with windows, and all the books are on top,” said thirteen year-old Sheyla Flores explaining her drawing. “I put glass on the top so from far away you can see the books. See here, they’re cracked up windows,” she continued. “I like how cracks look.”

“This over here is a big circle, a big window,” said Brian Jerez, like Flores, an 8th grader at Geraldine W. Johnson School. “This will make the library look more modern.”

The students arrived from Geraldine W. Johnson School, Hall School and John Winthrop School in Bridgeport. Each year, Bridgeport schools are waitlisted for the HMA Peer Docent Program, which receives a 300% interest rate beyond its capacity. The Program trains students in nine weeks to be docents and lead their classmates on tours of Downtown Bridgeport. A scaffolding design is utilized where the trained 7th graders become 8th graders mentors the following year. Further, many of the students who were not part of the training but were led by their peers on tours become the docents themselves in subsequent years.

Janet Zamparo, Curator of Education for the Housatonic Museum of Art Peer Docent Program, shared details on what makes this type of instruction so successful.

“The program builds on their skills, engaging students through questions. The process builds leadership and note taking skills as well as public speaking abilities. The teaching focuses on art and architecture, but it connects to other subjects like math and history. We’re fostering a sense of civic pride with, for the past four years, the Program’s focus on architecture in Downtown Bridgeport. The Program also exposes students to different career options related to design and architecture, such as urban planning, all while connecting them to a college environment on the campus of Housatonic Community College. It’s very powerful.”

“I come out of this neighborhood, so I get it,” said Mayne. “This [age] is when you want to get them and give them options so that even in the worst situation, they’ve already learned what interests them. It allows these kids to find their place in life.”

To learn more about the Housatonic Museum of Art’s Peer Docent Program, or to make a donation, visit www.HousatonicMuseum.org or contact HMA Executive Director, Robbin Zella at (203) 332-5052. The program is funded in part by generous donations from the Werth Family Foundation, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Housatonic Museum of Art

The Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA) is home to one of the premier college art collections in the United States. Its collection offers students and the community alike the opportunity to view works that span the history of art from the ancient to the contemporary. Unique to the Housatonic Community College campus, this permanent collection is on continuous display throughout the 300,000 square foot facility, offering a rare opportunity for both art enthusiasts and casual observers to view and interact with the art on a daily basis. Visit www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/ to learn more.