Mis Dos Mundos/My Two Worlds is a project that involved students whose language is primarily Spanish and included children who speak English only. The focus was to present the language, customs, and culture, through games, songs, stories, and art expressions.

First I began with visiting the classrooms at both Foley Middle and Daphne Elementary of the ESL Enrichment teachers Ms. Massey and Mrs. Gentry. The students at Ms. Massey’s class of Foley Middle worked with Ricky Trione, the blind artist, and were amazed to see his method of painting tactile. They taught him the colors in Spanish and he taught them to never give up! We painted together and each student had a fish to take home. Southern Chevrolet honored the visit in one of their ads, to spotlight student art and the Very Special Arts Project.

A series of visits to Daphne Elementary East (Mrs. Sondra Gentry’s class) allowed a chance to bring his Hispanic students stories and we went into the visual world to express together what the stories meant to them personally. The younger students laughed as we talked about a Siamese cat who thought it was a Chihuahua. The older students got into the story about a boy who flew upside down, as a result of feeling different, the new kid at school. I talked about times I felt different, and didn’t fit in, and each child reflected their own feelings into their art and writing with it. We also drew iguanas, a fun reptile they all had stories about!

The 3 day workshop followed in June, called the Spanish Immersion Project, which included approximately twenty students. Senora Carol Skidmore, a Spanish teacher at Fairhope High School used many language skills games to teach the English speaking students the colors, animals, and how to do a simple greeting “Hello, How are you, My name is…” Of course, the Spanish speaking students had the advantage when we played Twister or Bingo (called Loteria), as they knew the answers first! We read fables about the Latin culture, and Senora Maria Papp, a Fairhope artist from Argentina, translated as I read. Then we reacted to the wood carver’s dreams in art of our own.

Marilyn Williams, captain of the Fairhope High School Flamenco team under the direction of Dona Skidmore, taught the lesson of Flamenco as the children watched and tried to imitate her graceful hands and fast feet. Soon, the rest of the building knew something exciting was happening here, as Marilyn went to demonstrate for the various classes of Summer Art Bash. Artist Anjie Gonzalez taught the lesson of the mola, usually done as an appliqué textile in Panama. The students recreated it with scissors and bright papers.

Next came a clay lesson with potter Erica Bodine, who taught the students how to make the fish from a pinch pot. Later, her Art Bash students glazed the fish for us, and then I read them the story about Lucia, The Woman Who Outshone the Sun. I asked them to draw for me one image they held close in their mind from the story that was read. Stephen Savage’s photography student Cadie Simmons took portraits of the children also.

The final day was a fiesta with dancing, food, and new friendships formed. What started as a small project kept rippling throughout the building, as everyone wanted to see what was going on. When we take it to the first language, which is visual art, everyone responds! All children are wonderfully creative, honest and desiring of the same things in life.

Muchas gracias a todos,
Dona Nancy