Focus In: Unsung Heroes Project

Unsung heroes are individuals who accomplish incredible acts of bravery and compassion during their lifetimes but remain largely unknown to contemporary generations. As an ARTEFFECT Ambassador for the 2023–2024 school year, I was excited to bring the stories of these heroes to my seventh-grade classroom.

What Is ARTEFFECT?
ARTEFFECT is an annual competition in which middle- and high-school students share the stories of unsung heroes through art. Students can work in any media to create their artwork. They also submit a written impact statement that outlines the hero’s contributions, how the student portrayed the heroʼs story through art, and what the student took away from the experience.

The Ambassador Program
The ambassador initiative was created by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes to foster the visual arts through project-based learning. From October to April, ARTEFFECT ambassadors participated in a series of six virtual modules, four of which were open to all educators and two of which were specific to the ambassador cohort. We learned how to guide students in discovering the stories of the more than one hundred unsung heroes listed on the center’s website. Each of these individuals were discovered by students as part of the Lowell Milken Center’s Discovery Award Competition, and their stories reveal a wide range of heroic actions.

As part of my capstone project for the ambassadorship, I created a website to present a tailored version of the lesson plans provided during the program (sites.google.com/view/arteffects/home). The website contains information about ARTEFFECT, the complete lesson plan I created from materials provided by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, and a gallery of student art.

Project Walkthrough
My students first contemplated what it means to be a hero and what traits heroes possess. Together, we looked at the story of Irena Sendler, who risked her life during the Holocaust to save Jewish children. We discussed the concept of historical empathy, or the ability to understand what life was like for people who were alive during a different generation. Irena’s story demonstrates the heroic actions that some ordinary people take when faced with extraordinary circumstances, many of whom are never known or celebrated.

Each student selected an unknown hero from the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes website and researched their story by identifying important events, historical context, and relevant artifacts. They also reflected on how the hero’s story is relevant today and what we can learn from that personʼs actions.

Students then created a work of art in a media of their choice that illuminates the hero’s story and honors their contributions. Students were encouraged to submit their work to the ARTEFFECT competition as an additional way to share their work and the profound impact of the unsung heroes on history.

Sharing Their Stories
Two students worked together to create a sculpture of Holocaust survivor Pavel Weiner, along with the crayons he used to create magazines about his experience in the Terezin Ghetto. Another student painted a portrait of Sylvia Mendez as a young activist advocating for educational equity in California. Sylvia is shown behind a judge’s pulpit in a classroom, surrounded by replicas of actual newspaper articles detailing her story. For his project based on scientist Robert R. Williams, another student created a laser-cut acrylic box containing two clay rats. Williams was said to have exclaimed, “The rats say yes!” when he discovered the cure for the debilitating nutrient deficiency beriberi. These examples show how students identified artifacts that are relevant to their hero’s story and incorporated them into their artwork.

Students also wrote artist statements sharing the insights they gained by doing this project. The projects were shared with our school community during an evening art reception and student presentation.

A Lasting Impact
The Unsung Heroes project gives students the incentive to delve into history and discover individuals who profoundly impact our world for the better. Using art to express their learning provides the opportunity to highlight these individuals and their stories in a poignant and powerful way.