MIDDLE SCHOOL

Veronika M.

Sandy Coleman

There were a few challenges to work through: the project needed to be easy to accomplish with limited and inexpensive supplies; it should engage an audience of 200 adults and children, many of whom had no art experience; we needed to pull it off quickly in a nontraditional art space (translation: no paint on the floor); it had to be relevant to the theme, Breaking through Bias: Accepting Our Differences; and, of course, it should be meaningful.

The project provides a vehicle for collaboration, connection, and interaction through easily accessible art-making.

My solution was the Community Circle Project, which provides a vehicle for collaboration, connection, and interaction through easily accessible art-making that incorporates simple design and words in response to a prompt or question. The materials can be as simple as paper, pencils, and markers, and the concept works for face-to-face as well as remote classes.

The circle is a symbol of unity, wholeness, connection, and inclusion. The Community Circle Project employs the symbol of the circle and the themes it evokes as a creative focal point. Participants engage in art-making as well as meaningful conversation about their responses to the prompt.

The goal is for everyone to see commonalities, shared humanity, and the desire for good in their lives, which, ideally, leads to wishing for good in the lives of others. The project can also be used for relaxation and expressing emotions.

The project has evolved in response to the national outcry for racial injustice and the recent pandemic. The prompt I have posed in workshops and encouraged educators to ask their students is: What are you learning about yourself, your community, your family, and the world during these challenging times?

Samantha S.

There are five key components to successfully engaging participants in the project:

1. Preparation. Consider the prompt or question ahead of time. Present a broad question that gets participants thinking about their own lives as well as the lives of others.
2. Art-making. Ask participants to make three concentric circles. Recycled containers can be used as a template. Instruct them to present their response to the prompt using words and simple designs that correspond.
3. Conversation. Discuss what participants created and how they answered the prompt.
4. Comparison. Look at the circles designed by others and actively listen as they explain their designs and words. Is there a commonality to the answers? How do they differ? Why is this important? What does it show us?
5. Reflection. Notice the value of the exchange and what is being learned from and about others.

Maya F.

Several art educators have shared their experiences with me after completing the project, including Anne Hoffman (Wood Oaks Junior High, Northbrook, Illinois), whose students created 114 circles. Anne said, “Starting back to school [in-person] in August was extra-challenging, especially with all of the restrictions in place. I thought that by incorporating Coleman’s Community Circle Project that I could help build a sense of connection and unity amongst students and our classroom community, as well as the greater one.

“I showed students Sandy’s YouTube video as well as her website’s art gallery of circles. Then I engaged students in a discussion about all the events that we have been encountering and seeing in the news. It was a powerful experience for everyone to see it all as a whole, which at first was quite overwhelming.

As we continued our discussion, we saw that there was indeed a lot of good that we could squeeze out from all of the crises. I was impressed how each student gave such deep thought to what positive they could take away from what has been going on. Their goal for their final Community Circle Project was to figure out what has impacted them the most and what message they could then communicate to others to spread positivity and create change for the good of humanity.”

Follow @communitycircleproject on Instagram and post a circle using #communitycircleproject.com

Sandy Coleman is an artist and art educator who created the Community Circle Project. She teaches adult art classes at the Attleboro Arts Museum and is the director of communications and magazine editor at Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
Community Circle Project