Art Education Program Teaches on Slavery, Abolition
Posted
Daniel Riordan-driordan@timesuniononline.com
The mother-daughter team of Dianna Williams and Christi Ziebarth are presenting sixth-graders around the area with information regarding things like slavery and abolition.
But that is just one of the many subjects broached through their dye4LIFE and abolitionART educational program.
The age-appropriate presentation may deal with some weighty topics but the overarching message is one of hope.
Ziebarth originally submitted the project as one for fifth-graders. It was determined that the project would be more relevant to sixth-graders.
The program was funded through grants provided to Warsaw Community Schools.
It meets Indiana’s core standards in education.
Ziebarth and her mother, Williams, also wanted to make sure what they presented to the students had an impact.
“In this day and age of information overload, how do you present in a way that is different, unique and memorable?” said Ziebarth.
Combined with Ziebarth’s abolitionART Exhibit, students are encouraged to gain curiosity about things that are happening outside their immediate world.
“We encourage kids to think, ‘How can I use my talents to impact the world?’,” said Ziebarth.
Another theme is for kids to use their talents to serve others.
The exhibit deals with children and orphans rescued from the fishing industry of Lake Volta, Ghana, Africa.
But Ziebarth said the exhibit would create a spark inside kids for any cause they may want to champion.
While the topic may be heavy for kids to deal with, Ziebarth said it was important to talk about freedom and hope.
“It’s about going from not caring to caring,” said Ziebarth.
The presentation talks about the differences between apathy, empathy and sympathy.
The goal is to create empathy inside the children for other children thousands of miles away.
“It involves getting children to put on empathy like a garment,” said Ziebarth.
As a mother of four herself, Ziebarth said it was important to present information but not “cause children to grow callous hearts.”
“It brings it out of the history books and shows kids that these things still go on today,” said Ziebarth.
The presentation will visit all eight elementary schools in the Warsaw school district.
Each class will have their own page on Ziebarth’s website, abolitionart.com
And in each class Ziebarth and Williams have been to so far, there have been a core group of kids who linger at the different pieces of artwork and are genuinely grabbed by what the presentation is saying.
That effect is what Ziebarth and Williams call the “Ripple Effect.”
The Ripple Effect is a major theme of the presentation. It’s about getting kids educated about issues then getting them to care and take action.
By them taking action, it can then inspire more people to take action, thus creating a ripple effect.
The end result of the ripple effect through this presentation is the dye4LIFE Art Quilt.
During each presentation, students create dyed fabric swatches. When finished, a textile art quilt with 584 swatches, one for each student, will debut at Warsaw Community Public Library in June.
Following that it will go along with the abolitionART exhibit to the Honeywell Center Clark Gallery in July.
Ziebarth said one aspect of the program she is proud of is that is provides students with more exposure to art in school.
Students are also encouraged through the presentation to take pride in their own heritage and celebrate it.
Ziebarth said in every class she encounters kids who through the presentation have gained a curiosity of their own heritage.
As for the program’s future, Ziebarth hopes to expand the program to more schools.
“We have to empower them with hope,” said Ziebarth. “And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
