Final Multimedia Project

Artist Statement

For my final multimedia project, I wanted to add more depth to the topic of success in Hispanic schools while still keeping the same structure. It was a little bit harder for me to get ideas in order to change this presentation when compared to the last one. This is because following the Easter celebration and getting all of my hours in, I wasn’t able to return to the school to continue volunteering because of my busy schedule. So instead of going back to the school to take more pictures, I though I’d focus on the function of art in the surrounding community. I also thought art in the community would be a good aspect to incorporate into my presentation because I had helped out with arts and crafts activities every time I was at Escuela Vieau.

In order to gather images for this new element in my project, I decided to park at Walker’s Point on National Ave, and walk a couple miles in both directions to see what kind of public art I could find. I was successful in coming across about a dozen murals, which were perfect for my project. After taking pictures of these pieces, I was then able to add the element of “Art” into my presentation. In the practice and application of art exists another activity that can help a community come together, giving it hope and colorful images to look at rather than run down buildings.

I chose to assemble my presentation in the order it’s in because I wanted to start out with some facts about the failure rates of Hispanic schools, pointing out the factors that cause them to fail. I then state the things that a Hispanic school can do to counteract these negative influences, all of which Escuela Vieau is already doing. I then show images of the quilt project and Easter celebration, since the main focus of both of those things was family. I also wanted to make visible the fact that all of the teachers that helped out with the after school program, as well as the students, had a great attitude and were extremely happy and welcoming to all of the volunteers. In the midst of the quotes and images of students, I threw in a couple pictures of public art in the community to show that there is hope!

In completing this multimedia project I learned a lot about the Hispanic community and that it’s not that different from anywhere else. Yes, language can be a barrier, but just because you don’t speak the same language another person does, doesn’t mean you can’t communicate. Seeing how Hispanic schools function and the ways they are similar, yet different from the schools I attended, really helped to give me a new perspective on the Hispanic community as a whole. I learned a lot and I would definitely look into doing something similar to service learning again!