C.A.P.E (Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education). Artist in Residency program at George Washington HS

Mary Rossi and Noreen Wojtan, two full-time art teachers from George Washington HS, a Chicago Public School, were chosen to participate in a collaboration with C.A.P.E. Chicago this spring, and I was chosen to be the designated teaching artist in a three-month-long collaboration involving public art’s role in community outreach. After a handful of meetings and fundamental painting exercises, the participants actively voted on the following:

• Only triangles are allowed.
• There will be no more than 12 but no less than 9 triangles on each panel.
• The colors will be the same colors used on the Gay Pride flag, their symbolic gesture of solidarity with the LGBT community within George Washington and the world at large and a replacement for “text” or any written language, as the colors speak to a universal subject that should be understood regardless of language.

This piece was completed by the students in 12 two hour sessions.