This program update was prepared by Sarah Kate Morgan, Traditional Arts Education Director.
If you were to visit Moriah Warner’s Language Arts classroom at Cordia High School earlier this spring, you would have found her students wielding soldering irons and sheets of brightly colored glass instead of instead of pens and textbooks. The Artist-in-Residence Program at Hindman Settlement School brought local metal artist and jewelry maker Jill Robertson to Cordia to teach 9th through 12th graders the art of stained glass. By the end of the week, students had crafted sun-catchers, Christmas ornaments, earrings, and a large wall hanging, which they gifted to their teacher.“As an educator, I saw how giving students more space to express themselves and face problems on their own led to their collaboration and creativity shining through.” Ms. Warner said upon reflection on the residency in her classroom.
Jill wasn’t the only master artist that visited Knott County Schools this year. Textile artist Bethany Pace spent a week teaching embroidery to high school students at Knott County Central. Students practiced several embroidery stitches and had the opportunity to create their own embroidered wall hanging. In addition to the high school classes, Bethany also facilitated an intergenerational community workshop on embroidery. With her guidance, dozens of participants created their own 3D-style works of embroidered art.
Later in the spring, we had a very musical week when we hosted two concurrent artists-in-residence. Lindsey Branson brought music fundamentals to Pre-K through 2nd-grade students through her Kindermusik residency at Emmalena Elementary. At the same time, 2nd through 4th-grade students at Carr Creek Elementary learned how to play the ukulele with Mick Jeffries.
We finished up the spring semester with a visit from Adam Booth, an Appalachian storyteller from West Virginia, who spent the week working with Bria Stacy’s drama and public speaking classes at Knott County Central High School. In addition to his residency, Adam performed stories to K through 12th-grade students at Cordia during several assemblies and was a visiting guest artist for students in our after-school dyslexia tutoring. The week culminated in a community showcase where Adam and one of the students from the week, Mary, performed stories on campus in the Great Hall. In her performance, Mary wove local traditions, like our annual Gingerbread Festival, into her Appalachian retelling of the Cinderella fairytale.
The Settlement is honored to continue our long and close partnership with Knott County Schools by bringing in new art forms from the most accomplished artisans to share with students. It is our belief that these immersive experiences not only teach art fundamentals, but also allow students the opportunity to explore their own identity and gain a deeper connection with their peers.
When asked what the most meaningful aspect of the residency was to them, a student at Cordia said “Making homemade stuff with my friends and giving it to my grandma. Art taught me how to express myself in different ways. Watching the creativity of my classmates helped me to get to know them better.”
