South East Junior High students create performance art project to celebrate community

IOWA CITY –They dropped to their knees and crouched on the grassy field – students, teachers and a few family members.

Some giggled as a plane flew overhead, a passenger snapping photos of the image below. More photos were taken from a perch on the roof.

“Seven hundred kids. They all wore the right shirt and now they are on their knees,” Rachel Williams, an associate professor of art education at the University of Iowa. “They can't even see what they're doing.”

But they know what they are doing – creating a community performance art project that showcases the love and spirit that lives in the hearts of South East Junior High students and staff.

[caption id="attachment_244528" align="alignright" width="332" caption="Southeast Junior High School eighth grader April Lank lays out donated jeans to make a puzzle piece outline while setting up for a school-wide performance art project on Friday, May 20, 2011, at Southeast Junior High School in Iowa City. The jeans will be donated to Shelter House. Students wearing red, brown, yellow, white and black shirts formed a heart with a background of colors representing different races for the piece, which was photographed from a plane. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)"]

Southeast Junior High School students hold brown paper to create a sea of color, forming a heart as a school-wide performance art piece on Friday, May 20, 2011, at Southeast Junior High School in Iowa City. They were photographed from the ladder truck as well as from a plane. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

The project was designed by Rachel Arnone, the school's art teacher, and put into action by eighth grade students in her elective art classes.

“It's kind of crazy because we're going to be working with a lot of people,” said Austin Putchio, 14.

They were prepared, though, wearing signs that said “Ask me for help”  and holding paper that identified which classroom was assigned to their section.

“We want this project to bring our community together,” said Ivonne Madrigal, 14.

To show this, Arnone's students created a design that symbolizes community – a heart with a background of four puzzle pieces. Students assigned to the heart section of the puzzle wore red shirts while others donned white, black, brown and yellow shirts to symbolize different races.

Blue jeans and jean shorts were used to outline the puzzle pieces. The jeans are an extension of the project, which included a clothing drive for Shelter House.

“This shows our commitment to our community, our unity and teamwork,” said Niya Smith, 14.

“People can be brought together by the simplest things and the beauty of art,” Jonathan Northrup, 13, added.

Arnone said the idea for the project came to her about a year ago. The plans started in January, with the students pitching in at the start of the third trimester.

“They came up with the image, they sprayed it out on the field, they worked with the other classrooms and made announcements,” she said. “A couple kids came up with a rap for the clothing drive.”

Jacob Pajunen, 13, kept his camera with him throughout the process, taking photos during each stage of the project. He plans to create a stop-motion film and post it on the school's website.

“It's a cool project,” he said. “We did it.”

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