BTS Arts Project on Student Identity – Community Quilts

Nathan G. Smith

BTS Arts, Visual Arts Specialist

My coursework in the University of Utah’s Master of Arts in Teaching Fine Arts program inspired me to start the school year with a project that was personally relevant to my students and could serve as a pre-assessment of who my students are. I was interested in learning about my students’ interests, personalities, cultural influences, and lives outside of school. My goal was to build personal connections with my students and use the insights provided by this project to help ensure that my curriculum this year is as personally and culturally relevant to my students as possible.

As a result, I led students in first through fifth grade through a project titled “Community Quilts” at both of my schools: Fox Hills Elementary and Harry S. Truman Elementary. We began by examining images of quilts and discussing quilting in the students’ lives. Many had prior experience with this art form, either owning quilts or having family members who were quilters. Then we examined examples of quilts from Utah’s quilting traditions and the fabulous quilts of the Gee’s Bend Quilters in Alabama.

After this lesson, the students were prompted to design their own paper quilt patch all about themselves. They were challenged to include at least four details about their identity (including interests, hobbies, heritage, personality, family, or personal symbols).

After designing and drawing their individual patch, the students worked together as a class to tape them together, forming a class community quilt to be displayed outside of their classroom. We discussed how we are each unique, but we fit together in our class and school community. The artwork became a metaphor for how we work together at school and benefit from our diversity.

The students enjoyed the opportunity to make art all about themselves, and I was thrilled with their creativity and hard work, as well as the resulting art quilts.