Navigating Nuance…between academic needs and social-emotional needs

TitleSTEP School Girl’s Art Class - drawing practiceYear2022Materialsdigital collage of pencil and paper drawingsProjectNavigating NuanceContextOrganizationDescriptionThe organization I worked with as part of this art socioecological practice was the Spero Transitional Education Program (STEP), a transitional school designed for our newly arrived Afghan refugee neighbors. The high school girls needed to receive an art credit to fulfill academic needs, but at the same time, this school community was experiencing high rates of trauma and mental health needs.  Navigating the balance between these two competing needs is becoming more commonplace in all educational settings, so it was interesting to enter that conversation via an art curriculum. We focused as much on the process of making (relaxing, breathing while making, trying to find the space of "flow") as we did on teaching art principles, and sometimes the balance shifted depending on the needs of the day.  This collage is comprised of student work from a lesson on how to draw eyes. More on Art Socioecological Practiceheatherariyeh.comMore on Navigating Nuanceheatherariyeh.com