By Lauren Sweitzer, courtesy of Kent News
Inspired by Senator George J. Mitchell’s visit to Kent school earlier in the year, Chair of the Art Department, Ms. Jennifer Lynch, came up with a creative and informational art project for her Art Survey classes this spring. The project is based on the topic of analyzing the Israel/Palestine conflict from 1948, 1967, and 1990 to the present and depicting it through drawing and painting.
Around 60 students are involved in the project and each student is making a historical map and an interpretive map using watercolor which will be compiled into a book. A handful of students are also creating a biblical map for the book. Along with the art pieces, several Advanced Placement US Government and selected history students will write short, informed opinion pieces on the issue to be included in the book.
Ms. Lynch believes “that this project will not only educate our students about the geography of the Middle East and provide a historic framework for the issue, but through their research and creativity they will hopefully form an educated opinion and/or discover a solution.” The final detail, Ms. Lynch explains, will be having “the collection of work professionally bound this summer and sent to Senator Mitchell with a cover letter from Headmaster Father Schell.”
This project correlates with one of Kent’s aims to connect current events to school curriculum in interesting ways. Ms. Lynch feels that “this collaborative effort will serve as a supportive gesture for Senator Mitchell’s important work as Special Envoy from the Obama Administration” and as an outlet for students’ opinions and creative expression.
