Professor Samaras: Artist Triada Samaras Mentors High School Teachers at Central High School in Trenton, NJ Part 3

Drawing in the Visual Arts Classroom

with Triada Samaras, Artist and Art Educator LINK LINK

and Young Audiences of New Jersey LINK

and Michelle Marigliano, Senior Director of Education and Equity

and Trenton Public School School District LINK

and Elizabeth Rose Zwierzynski,

Acting Supervisor of Visual & Performing Arts and Partnerships

Session 3

May 15, 2024

Creating a Hand/Text Drawing with Sepia and Graphite Pencil

In this third coaching/professional development workshop for high school art teachers at Trenton Central High School, New Jersey, YANJ/PA Teaching Artist, Triada Samaras, introduced a new drawing material: sepia and a new concept for the day, creating a hand drawing with text. The hand is a symbol of humanity, a wide variety of gestures, several emotions, and is recognized by every culture.

"The human hand has been the subject of many famous artistic works across the ages. This interest in the hand form dates as far back as the early prehistoric ages. Findings of art depicting hands has been documented and preserved in multiple locations in South America, Asia, and Europe. These are typically a form of cave art, made by placing a hand on the wall of the cave, and blowing pigment at it, forming a characteristic uncolored (negative) image of the hand surrounded by the pigment. The painting may then be decorated with lines or dashes." LINK

Triada Samaras chose the hand and text as a theme as it addresses self, individuality and identity. These themes are natural in the Culturally Responsive Teaching. pedagogy. Having students speak in their own voices on an art work of their hand is a natural fit.

"Culturally responsive teaching incorporates and centers unique student experiences and identities, supporting educators to build learning partnerships that result in increased student engagement and ownership of learning." LINK

Above: Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos (The Cave of Hands), Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.

The paintings in these caves paintings are dated from 7300 BCE to 700 CE..

during the Archaic period of pre-Columbian South America..

Above: Teachers and Elizabeth Zwierzynski working on a large-scale hand drawing using brown paper

to resemble a cave drawing background.

Above: Entrance to the Cave

Above: Entrance to the Central High School in Trenton, NJ

Above: Triada Samaras often features the hand in her artwork.

Above is her drawing of her hand and a poem she integrated into the drawing.

Art teachers can also build

art lessons around their own art practices.

Above: Hands from Cave of Hands

Above: Central High School Teachers use their own hands to create drawings.

In a second part of this drawing lesson: Triada Samaras proposed

the students begin a list of positive and self-affirming statements about themselves, things they are comfortable with or proud of e,g,:

"I am" statements like

"I am kind to my friends."
"I am smart and believe in myself."

Another prompt might be: "I stand for..."

They could use graphite pencil (2B or softer) to add these words on the lines in a

stream of consciousness fashion. This part of the art lesson will affirm their individuality, their identity, and their voices.

Above and below: Triada Samaras provided an example drawing to the teachers as a loose idea or a "lesson "skeleton" but not as a prescription for the teachers. Teachers are encouraged to create their own unique lesson plans from this idea.

Samaras also suggested students can draw or collage pieces of tree branches or seeds to match the lines of their hands to another living thins such as a plant or tree outdoors.

This extension of the project would also make this lesson an

EcoArt lesson, connecting the human hand to the environment of living things outside of the human body.