One of the programs that has emerged from the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition is an amazing collaboration called Classes Duo Paris/Knoxville.
Through our partnership with the City of Paris’ CASPE* administrative service, we are connecting two schools – Jean Zay Elementary School in Paris and Nature’s Way Montessori School in Knoxville, TN – through Beauford’s life and art.
On 20 November 2017, we held the first teleconference for the educators and administrators who will create the lesson plans and handle the logistics of running the program. The students will interact through video conferences and will work on art projects between conferences. They will share their works during the video conferences and on one or more online platforms.
Sixteen (16) students from Jean Zay have been selected to participate in the program. These children are already being inspired by Beauford’s paintings to create their own portraits and abstracts.
The selection process for sixteen (16) students from Nature’s Way is underway.
The educators from both sides of the Atlantic have submitted lesson plans that encompass drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and written correspondence.
Themes to be addressed include places Beauford lived in Paris and Knoxville, several artistic styles that inspired his works, places he traveled and the modes of transportation he used, self-portraiture, and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
In keeping with our strategy to incorporate as many of our Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs) as possible in our programs and activities, several Classes Duo lessons will encourage the students not only to engage in artistic activities (The Arts), but also to think about science and math (STEAM Education). Our Literacy SFA will be incorporated through the letters that the children will write to each other.
To incorporate our Travel/Study Abroad SFA, we are planning a travel component through which Knoxville students can visit Paris and Paris students can visit to meet their video/pen pals and see the places where Beauford lived and worked.
For many – if not most – of these children, this will represent their first trip abroad!
The first video conference is scheduled for January 12, 2018.
*CASPE – Circonscription des Affaires Scolaires et de la Petite Enfance
