This past summer, I traveled to Ghana for an amazing three weeks of studying pottery and art. In the experience of a lifetime, I learned so much more than I could have imagined, and met incredible artists and children. A big thanks to Fund for Teachers and Chicago Foundation for Education, two non-profit groups who fund teachers in fulfilling their dreams to travel and learn, bringing their knowledge back to the classroom.
Throughout this year we will be doing several exciting projects connecting our students at Lane to the artists of Ghana, including:
1) conducting firing experiments where we mine our own clays and fire them using Ghanaian techniques practiced today (barrel, open-air, pit, and wood firings).
2) collaborating with Mr. Flygt's percussion classes to make wheel-thrown drums, sewing on the skins, and learning Ghanaian drumming, along with a workshop and performance by a visiting artist from Ghana.
3) studying the relationship between Ghanaian/Gold Coast traditional sculpture and American slave pottery from the Carolina coasts, then creating inspired works and face vessels.
4) selling art from Ghana and Lane to raise funds for programs that help children in Ghana go to school.
5) "traveling" around the world as we investigate world pottery traditions from our heritage, to map the world of ceramics as it relates to the diverse population of Lane, and to create large-scale works inspired by our research.
Here are some pictures from my travel. Click here for a complete online photo journal:
Ceramics in Ghana
