Weeks 16-19
Week 17-19, Single Tree Arts Postal/Mail Art-Exhibition Project. We received two works by Lydia Marie Armstrong. Both are pencil and crayon on paper,2020. The work “If You Can’t Go Outside Go Inside" shows color accents in the detailed pencil drawing our eyes lead us to the central focus, the girl in the center of drawing in a meditate pose surrounded by plants and the detailed carpet underneath. She depicts the idea of being at peace within yourself or in your home during these times.
“The World Needs Us to Stay Home” is very poetic. It talks about not just that the USA should be safe but that the whole world is one and everyone is affected and brought together by the pandemic and the idea of safety.
We received a work by student Taleena Fauch.
The work is a pencil drawing on lined paper, 2020. The piece is a portrait or self portrait showing a person with a worried look on her face, the mask and the dress tell the story. In Taleena’s work you can see that It’s really frustrating to stay at home and do nothing and not being able to hang out with friends, but at the same time she knows it’s the way to get through this.
We received four works by Aeriana Cosce. All the images are drawn with markers on paper, 2020. The artist has made four separate pieces each with a different idea. These three artworks use brilliant colors to show the viewer positive messages. The fourth one, “Untitled” is an intense abstract work of contrasting colors and swirls on paper. All of the work is very detailed and thought out. These pieces seem to speak about the variety of emotions people are going through during these times.
We received two works by student, Navaea Warden. The work is color pencil and markers on paper, 2020. In the larger work the image of the world shows it stoping the virus by staying home and wearing masks. It is taking on the pandemic and chasing the virus away. In the second work titled “Jack Norton Could Have Done A lot Better”(referring to the school).
The drawing shows the world with a tear in one eye. The world sees that not everyone is doing their part in stopping the pandemic.
We received two works by Sabrina Armstrong. Both are color pencil and crayon on paper,2020. “How Covid-19 Makes Me Feel” is a collection of different images showing how the artist is feeling about the pandemic and Racism. On the back of the work she acknowledges the artist Michael Tores as an inspiration for her drawings. The piece “I Am Not Sick and I am Not A Virus and Racism Please Stop” is a very personal and well drawn portrait that shows the intensity of the artists reaction to the current crisis.
We received a photographic work by writer/artist, educator/activist David Sanders.
The piece “invisible” is developed in the traditional post card format with a border and edge design. The photo is a meditation on visibility and invisibility, and the many layers of these qualities that are coming to the forefront in the time COVID. It alludes to the anxiety, helplessness, and feeling of isolation that many people find themselves dealing. Are we a target? Are we even recognized? Who are we? These are the questions the artist is asking.
Important to note: the original artwork was lost in the mail, an example of the intentional sabotage of the United States Postal Service by the trump administration.
Dave Sanders is the teacher responsible for the student submissions from Jack Norton School located in Pecwan, California (Humboldt County). Eszter has known Dave Sanders and Mary Raigosa since the early days at Humboldt in the 80s. Dave just retired Mary retired from teaching last year.
This is a beautiful story Dave wrote about the location of the school on the Yurok Reservation and about the students.
Sabrina Armstrong
Navaea Warden
Lydia Marie Armstrong
Taleena Frauch
Aeriana Cosce
This is the story~
These are students from Jack Norton Elementary School on the Yurok Reservation, where Mary and I have lived and taught for over 35 years.
Follow Highway 96 from Willow Creek, through the Hoopa Indian Reservation to Weitchpec, and then turn down State Route 169 for 22 miles to the end of the road, aka “the End of the Road,” because you have to turn around to come back, once you go down it. Jack Norton School nestles in a forested hillside above the Klamath River, amid a cluster of the former Yurok villages of Sregon, Pecwan, Ko’tep, Wah-tekw and Wokero, where redwood plank houses were once the center of life. We are about 20 river miles from the mouth of the Klamath and the Pacific Ocean. Across the river and over the mountain ridge is the boundary of Redwood National Park and the big trees, also Yurok territory.
We have a lot of poverty in our community, and often grandparents and family are taking care of the kids. The Yurok culture is strong here. The Tribe is organized and provides support to the community. The Yurok Language is still spoken, and young people are actively involved in culture and language restoration. The World Renewal Dances and Brush Dances continue to be danced, carried on here as they have been for millennia.
My kids are a small class of sixteen 4th-8th graders, in a two-class, one library, schoolhouse. We have 30 kids total. School closed in March, with very little warning, when the COVID19 crisis broke. The kids had previously been used to short school closures, one or two days to a week, for power outages, too much snow, bus breakdowns, a big tree in the road, or crumbling mountainsides slumping and burying the road. But this time we never went back, and spring slipped strangely into summer, with no noticeable break.
Like schools everywhere, we had to continue our work with physical paper packets or online teaching. The kids all had Chromebooks from school, but most households have no Internet access or weak connections, and even if students were able to get online it was hard to keep their attention. The alternative was for them to complete the physical work packets, but only a third of the students were able to do that on their own.
Not everybody gets enough to eat here, so the school delivered breakfasts and lunches by van to people at the bus stops. Mary and I would often follow along with the vans to deliver packets and see a few parents and kids, and check in on how they were doing, see if they needed anything.
When you sent me the poster for your art exhibit, I put it on the school Facebook page, and in the packets, and made it an optional assignment. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to convince the kids to take up the challenge.
I’m not surprised that these students completed that challenge, because they shine in class and they have strong parent and/or grandparent support at home. They had very little guidance from me with the assignment. Usually I would be hovering over them, urging them on. Here they chose what to say and how to say it. They had to summon their own motivation to do it. Their art is a purely honest expression of their immediate experiences and emotions at this time.
Life suddenly got very strange. They didn’t have access to their friends anymore, they were spending all the time at home. In many cases routines and structures broke down. Nature became more vibrant and visible, with bears, mountain lions, hawks, and eagles out, all the plants leafing out and blooming like crazy, the air fresh and the sky intensely blue. Everything got a lot quieter than it formerly had been. Almost no traffic on the road. I salute them for their efforts.
Taleena, Sabrina, and Lydia live high up on the mountainside, with animals around and fruit and vegetable gardens. Navaea and Aeriana live in view of the ever-changing Klamath River.
Aeriana, Taleena, and Navaea are Yurok. Sabrina and Lydia are Mexican American. They are about the nicest people you would ever want to meet: big-hearted, super creative, helpful and friendly, energetic and enthusiastic for their schoolwork. I have great expectations for them. They decided to submit their work and gave it their all.
~David Sanders