Through art, we can communicate with people from all over the world. Stories can be told, feelings expressed, and an understanding of other artists and their work can be established without learning other languages. With this in mind, I decided to reach out to a school in Ukraine so that my students could learn about their peers through their artwork.
Student artworks from Kyiv, Ukraine.Dowell Middle School studentsʼ artwork sent to Ukraine.
As a middle-school art teacher, I enjoy traveling and acquiring new experiences that I can share with my students. I believe it is important for students to learn about new places and engage with art from different cultures.
Through art, we can communicate with people from all over the world. Stories can be told, feelings expressed, and an understanding of other artists and their work can be established without learning other languages. With this in mind, I decided to reach out to a school in Ukraine so that my students could learn about their peers through their artwork. We have heard a lot about Ukraine in recent years as a result of the ongoing conflict. I anticipated that my students would be interested in learning more about Ukraine, which has a rich history and vibrant culture.
Planning an Art Exchange
In October of last year, I began searching for a school in Ukraine that would be interested in doing an art exchange with us. I found a few schools online that had art departments and emailed them my proposal.
An administrator from Kyiv Children’s School of Arts replied to me, expressing interest in the project. Through emails and messages with her and the art department head, we collaborated on the details of our art exchange. I consulted with my Ukrainian colleagues about themes and ideas for student work. We decided on universal themes for our students to create artwork depicting their favorite holidays, seasons, cities, hobbies, and pets. Students from both schools were excited at the prospect of sharing their creativity with their peers from another country.
Sending the Gifts
In November, students from both countries began working on their projects and writing paragraphs about their artwork. In December, all of the artwork, as well as student certificates for participation, were packaged and shipped across the ocean. My school principal also offered to send souvenirs to the Ukrainian students. We sent pencil bags with U.S. and Texas symbols on them, along with pencils and pins featuring the American flag and small sketchbooks decorated by my students.
Exhibiting Student Works
In January, we received students’ artworks from Kyiv. My students were thrilled to see art from their peers from across the globe. I displayed Ukrainian students’ artwork in my school and received many comments from colleagues and even the superintendent on the quality and expression of the work. Reciprocally, my students’ artworks were displayed in Kyiv Children’s School of Arts, where Ukrainian students could view the exhibit and interact with the art.
Reflections
This is the type of project that my students will remember for a long time. I also hope this art exchange gave Ukrainian students a positive experience. I think this project will help students from both countries gain an understanding of the importance and power of art—that art can be used to share ideas, to learn, to feel, to connect us, and to make friends, even if we live on different continents.
Nelli Helton is an art teacher at Dowell Middle School in McKinney, Texas. nkuptsova@hotmail.com
This issue introduces various ways to address advocacy through different lenses, ranging from cultural perspectives to embracing mistakes and self-expression. Young students use art and creative thinking skills to connect with themselves and the world around them, elementary students turn mistakes like rips and smudges into beautiful works of art, middle-school students make clay puzzle pieces with symbolic objects representing their interests, high-school students create detailed fabric portraits of someone they look up to, and more.
