Art for Pre-School

Rebekka works with pre-school students to provide them with opportunities to explore the elements of art through hands-on activities. Each activity is tied to a piece of children's literature appropriate for this age group. Rebekka shares the book with the group first and then children explore their creative natures through activities.

Generations of Americans were brought up on the story about Betsy Ross making our first flag. This story has been somewhat discredited, but whether or not Betsy made the first flag, there were many other women who combined their skill at needlework with their patriotic feelings. Quilters especially have worked their joy, anger, sympathy and political preferences into exciting and often artistically original pieces.

Artists have created self-portraits for many different reasons. For most artists, the face in the mirror is the most familiar and the most convenient model. They are working with a subject they know better than any other and are freer to express their feelings and to experiment with new techniques. Artists who examine thier emotions in their work often use common themes that express the joys and sorrows of people from different cultures around the world. Artists’ self portraits reveal thier character, their spirituality and their feelings. When you look into the mirror the next time, look with the eyes of an artist and begin to see the person behind the image there.

Beautiful quilt designs were developed and passed along from generation to generation, some examples ending up in museum collections, a celebration of women’s contributions to the arts over the years. Today quiltmaking is both a popular hobby and a medium of expression for professional artists and lives on tracing it’s roots back to those original settlers in America.

“Inspired Women of the Twentieth Century” presents a body of work by a quilt artist for the purpose of telling stories about the chosen women All of these quilts have a paper doll theme, highlighting the life stories of 12 inspiring women of the 20th Century to bring attention to the accomplishments of these women who have succeeded in breaking down gender barriers and stereotypes in their respective fields. Their stories are told in a unique manner through the garments they wore for defining moments in their lives or as a means of expressing who they are and the women appear on the quilts as “paper dolls” with their wardrobes consisting of tiny quilts attached to the main quilt so that the “dolls” can be dressed like a paper doll.

The mixture of these cultures brought forth an unlikely result in the form of the flags created by the Fante after experiencing the pomp and circumstance of the European naval banners and regimental colors. The Fante craftsmen took to the format of the European flags and created an exuberant art form that marries the ancient West African tradition of communication by proverb with a powerful military display of ceremony and provocation. These flags are carried by and have special significance for the warrior companies of the culture called Asafo.