Alphonsus Academy & Center for the Arts presents EcoArt

CHICAGO -- May, 2015 -- For over a decade, Alphonsus Academy & Center for the Arts (AACA) has been integrating the arts (including dance, music, digital arts, drama and visual arts) into the day-to-day curriculum for their PK-8 grade students. As part of the commitment to providing students with a true arts integration experience, AACA recently showcased student art at a gallery-style opening entitled EcoArt: A Tribute to Earth Day & Outsider Art located at The Atheneum Theatre.

“At this one-of-a-kind event, our students explored ways to use art to creatively reduce, reuse and recycle, investigated concerns that we face regarding trash and our environment, and were introduced to the works of the late Mr. Imagination and the concept of outsider art (also referred to as found object art),’” says Katia Marzolf Borione, AACA Director of Arts & Culture.

Examples of artwork created through AACA’s arts-integrated curriculum and showcased at the event include:

• Second grade students were introduced to the basics of species interdependency within an ecosystem. In order to create a water-like art piece, the students looked at the ancient art technique called Ebru, also known as Marbling, practiced in Turkey for the binding of books since 1550’s. The Ebru technique consists of sprinkling colours on to the surface of the bath sized with methocel in a trough. Paint flowing designs can be achieved by scratching the surface with a stick or comb, then by carefully laying the paper over the bath, the floating picture on top of it is readily transferred to the paper; thus, each ebru is a one-of-a-kind print.

• Fifth and sixth grade students learned about waste management practices used in the United States and the amount of garbage a person creates in a span of a week. Students reflected on the different materials that end up in a typical trash can as well as the problems with littering specially looking at the garbage found in an aquatic ecosystem and the hazards to all its living things. Students looked at the different ways garbage is recycled, reused, and destroyed. Students also looked at electronic waste and its effects on the environment and the world’s economy. Students deconstructed non-working electronics to create art robot inspired art pieces.

In addition to the opportunity to view the student-created art, event attendees also had a chance to enjoy passed hors d’oeuvres and participate in hands-on “creation stations” including:

• Origami cranes made from paper embedded with wildflowers
• Paint brush people inspired by Mr. Imagination
• Sidewalk stencil art created using soil and coffee grounds
• Veggie paint drip art
• Milkweed seed treasure hunt

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About Alphonsus Academy & Center for the Arts: At Alphonsus Academy & Center for the Arts, we inspire and enable our children to reach their full potential by providing a rigorous education combining academic excellence, an arts-integrated curriculum and a strong Catholic foundation. Located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, AACA serves students in preschool through eighth grade. For additional information, please visit the school website at www.alphonsusacademy.org or contact Mandy H. Moody, Director of Development & Communications at 773-348-4629, extension 151 or at mmoody@alphonsusacademy.org.