What we do?
This project is a day-long design challenge where all the artwork created is incorporated into Lighted Art Festivals and other public venues around the world. The live event is combined with a month long call for art from students from around the globe. This year’s event included an entire high school, two additional high school classes in other cities, as well as two college level classes, a team of high school students who owned/planned/led the event, and finally, a team of teachers, and industry experts who supported the students in their process. Moving forward, students want to continue to collaborate internationally and showcase student artwork at lighted art festivals and other venues (both in person and online) around the world.
This project gives students an entire day to explore, create, make and share their works of art with the greater community. This event can be done on a small scale, within a classroom, to large scale, including many school collaborating together. Art can be created in both low tech ways with pencils and crayons and high tech ways, with tablets, computers and cameras. The driving force in this project is to give students the power to plan the day and then run the event for their fellow classmates, while providing the support from industry experts and teachers. The project is 100% student-led and 100% teacher supported.
Students plan and run the event, create lessons and tutorials for their fellow students and get to showcase their natural abilities as artists and leaders in their own right. Through our large international network, we can help to find industry/community experts who are willing to mentor leader students in other cities and countries.
It is critical that we raise the stakes for students by showcasing artwork in a public manner, outside of the classroom, so that communities understand the importance of student voice within the larger eco-system of community.
Why we do it?
According to the 2019 study by Adobe: Creativity and Education: Why it matters, 71% of college-age professionals say creative thinking should be taught as a course, like math and science. 78% say that creativity is very important to their career and 82% wish they had more exposure to creative thinking as students. But in our rush to cover content, teachers and administrators are forgetting to make space and time for students to explore their creativity. This project also serves to amplify student voice in the greater community.
