29 Pieces: Artists Making a Kinder World

An arts organization called 29 Pieces, based in Dallas, seeks to engage, involve, and inspire our country’s youth and educators to use art to explore, communicate, and practice the values of nonviolence and kindness. Since its inception in 2005, 29 Pieces has trained more than 1,500 teachers in twenty-four states and Washington, D.C. in a hands-on, project-based visual arts education program, 29 Pieces: Artists Making a Kinder World.

Artwork from the class of Anne Flight, Stratton School, Stratton, Maine. The artwork is based on the Artists Making a Kinder World lesson, Principles of Flight.

Making a Kinder World
In 2022 and early 2023, 29 Pieces collaborated with twelve art educators from coast to coast who represented the elementary through high-school levels. Four teams of educators worked with 29 Pieces to develop four new lessons for the Artists Making a Kinder World curriculum using art for social-emotional learning. These project-based lessons can be tailored to knowledge objectives across your curriculum. More than 2,000 students participated in piloting the lessons. Each lesson is inspired by a positive social value such as respect or hope. Lessons begin with a moment of quiet centering, followed by an interactive presentation in which students participate in integrative understanding of the lesson’s theme. 

Lesson 1: Seeds
Students consider how planting a single seed can result in thousands of beautiful plants. What “thought seeds” do we want to plant in our hearts, minds, and world, and what steps will we need to take to cultivate those seeds?

Four teams of educators worked with 29 Pieces to develop four new lessons for the Artists Making a Kinder World curriculum using art for social-emotional learning.

There are two options for the lesson. The first involves self-portraiture with flowers blossoming at the crown of students’ heads, representing their thought seeds growing. For the second option, students make flowers and write their thought seeds on the stem. This lesson has crossover possibilities with objectives in environmental science. Developed by 29 Pieces, Lauren Bomba (Washington, D.C.), Cheryl Gordon (Birmingham, AL), and Jane Maus (Grand Prairie, TX).

Lesson 2: Is This Miracle Enough?
In this lesson, students consider the miracles in front of them every day, giving them new eyes to see the world and its phenomena with wonder, awe, and respect. 

There are three options for the lesson: making thaumatropes (optical artworks that spin to show two images superimposed); creating “exploding books” that resemble a honeycomb or flower when unfolded; and taking a “one-step hike,” focusing on a small area outside and making a zine showing everything observed within one square foot of the area. This lesson has crossover possibilities with objectives in biological sciences. Developed by 29 Pieces, Stena Leib (Lanesboro, MN), Maria Guttierez (San Antonio, TX), and Holley Nealy (Lubbock, TX).

Lesson 3: Journal Your Observations
Students use a journal to document detailed observations of elements observed in the natural environment. They can incorporate drawing, collage, decorative writing, photos, and more. This lesson supports students in valuing one-pointed attention, the deepening benefits of “close readings,” and has crossover possibilities with objectives in natural sciences. Developed by 29 Pieces, Karen Doles (Garden Grove, CA), Arlene Shelton (Aledo, TX), and Annette Trammell (Grand Prairie, TX).

Artwork from the class of Sarah Sevier, Bolton Academy, Atlanta Georgia. The artwork is based on the Artists Making a Kinder World lesson, Principles of Flight.

Lesson 4: Principles of Flight
This lesson draws on the physics of flight. Students consider how their own hopes and dreams “take flight.”

The art project involves winged self-portraits that include representations of the four elements of flight: thrust, weight/gravity, drag/resistance, and lift. There are three lesson adaptations, geared to grades K–3, 3–5, and 6–8. This lesson crosses over with objectives in physical sciences. Developed by 29 Pieces, Anne Flight (Stratton, ME), Karen Isbell (Dallas, TX), and Sarah Sevier (Atlanta, GA).

Lesson Kits Online
These lessons, along with twelve more Artists Making a Kinder World lessons, are available online. Each lesson contains a PDF that details lesson objectives, one PowerPoint file with a presentation for students, printable posters with sample art, and printable collateral materials such as worksheets. All lessons are available at no cost at artistsmakingakinderworld.org/lesson-by-lessonba141497.

Karen Blessen is the founder and executive artistic director of 29 Pieces. karen@29pieces.org, artistsmakingakinderworld.org