By Jasmina Nogo
Staff Writer
The hallway to the cafeteria at Carrboro Elementary School had been transformed into an ocean tunnel full of blue streamers and sea animals. Beyond it, the school’s ocean story quilt hung on display, as parents, teachers and students celebrated the completion of the school’s cultural diversity art project on March 17 at their “Family Book Arts Night.â€
“To build a sense of community among our students,†said Leslie Rountree, a parent volunteer, “we have embarked on a school-wide project called ‘Currents of Culture,’ which blends story writing, fabric design, quilting and other skills to produce a mural-sized fabric storybook quilt.â€
The quilt depicts an ocean scene and has an intricate display of various sea creatures that are characters in the story the students composed. “Searchin’ Urchin,†is about Spike, a golden sea urchin who hitchhikes across the oceans looking for someone to give him a hug. The story itself is sewn onto the quilt, in both English and Spanish. It will also be translated into Karen, Chinese and French.
“I like Spike because he goes around trying to get hugs,†said Amber Cotton, a fifth-grader who worked on the story and on the quilt.
The evening opened with a reading of “Searchin’ Urchin†by Susie Wilde, a writer and teaching artist who helped the students write the story. The quilt hung behind her while she read, and students pointed out various characters on it as they appeared in the story.
After the reading, students and their families divided themselves between several tables assigned to sections of the story. Their task was to illustrate that particular part of the story; the illustrations will now be compiled in book form.
Deborah Lederer, the school art teacher, said the book will be published and available for purchase on the Internet for students and their families.
“The students had a writing coach who helped them write the story and an artist helped create the quilt, but the students did all of the artwork alone,†Lederer said.
She said the project has taken the entire school year. The fifth-graders began writing the story in the early fall and the quilt was started soon after. Every student at the school helped with the project in some way.
The diversity of students at Carrboro Elementary School inspired the story.
“We came up with the theme out of the school itself,†said Peg Gignoux, a textile artist who helped the students create the quilt. “The currents of culture represent the diversity of the school.â€
Gignoux said that Rachel Beck, a Carrboro parent, invited the two artists-in-residence to participate in the project. She applied for an N.C. Arts Council grant, which then served as seed money.
“The art teacher jumped on the idea, and so the project started,†Gignoux said.
Gignoux and Wilde have been working on such story quilts for more than 10 years. They have extensive experience with school-based residencies and are designated teaching artists in the NCAC Touring Artist Directory.