Dr. Dan Girardot, the Director of Music Ministry at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church and School, invited me to lead the visual art component of MUSIC ALIVE! Sacred Music Camp in July 2020, presented virtually for the first time in its 28-year history.
Video assembled and edited in collaboration with fellow Region 13 Art EC-12 intern Kristin Ayrault
The camp, for youth ranging in age from 2nd grade to high school, brings together educators, artists, and performers from the Austin community to lead segments on scriptural exegesis, music theory, dance, visual art, vocal technique, and cooking over three episodes each focusing on the themes of Word, Worship, and Witness, for which I devised three different visual art projects:
1. WORD
Through crayon-etching diptychs, illuminating the Beatitudes, demonstrating a simple artistic process as metaphorical contemplation
2. WORSHIP
Through junk-mail collage interpretations of traditional Byzantine icon patterns, identifying in the mundane raw materials of diverse colors and textures to transform with creativity into objects pointing towards the sublime
I recorded clips of myself demonstrating the three projects I devised for the camp and sent them through Google Drive to fellow Region 13 Art EC-12 intern Kristin Ayrault to assemble and edit into three discrete segments of instructional videos released every few days in the first couple weeks of the Sacred Music Camp.
3. WITNESS
Through printmaking design, making art accessible to many, augmenting even the simplest ideas, and inspiring action towards social justice
Accessible Materials
and
empowering Techniques
I foraged for materials that can be procured easily from common stores like H-E-B and experimented on techniques that do not require the use of tools inappropriate for unsupervised children, such as box cutters. I composed PDF guides for each of the episodes, providing suggestions for alternative materials for each project and further background information.
Synchronous Instruction and feedback
Campers were given the option to meet virtually with me and other leaders over Zoom in morning and afternoon sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In addition to discussing the art projects presented in the videos and providing feedback for art projects in progress, I helped teach vocal technique to prepare the campers for the virtual choir recording that culminates the Sacred Music Camp.