Family Foundations
Christine Hanaway Maloney, Lower School Art and Design Teacher
Our Fifth Grade Cohort has been busy during Art and Design class creating their own version of a family tree. After studying the illustrations of Cookie Moon and reading about different types of trees and forests around the globe, D-E
artists began creating their own unique mixed media project. Each artist had their own unique vision of how a tree could represent their own family.
This project was also a great opportunity for a collaboration about identity with the DEIB department. Ms. Simone Henry Agblonon was happy to visit each class to lead a group discussion about family foundations. We chatted and reflected about a family often providing a “Blueprint for Belonging,” meaning that our family can help us establish strong feelings of belonging that can be aspired toward in other environments. Our students enjoyed thinking about how their own families help create strong roots that allow us to connect and to thrive. Ms. Simone challenged students to try to depict what they feel when they think of their families through their art.
It is so hard to believe that this will be the last year for these Lower School students- but their growth is evident in these beautiful artworks. Please be sure to stop by the small exhibition displayed outside the 5th grade classrooms in Drapkin Hall.
