The issue of bullying in schools became an issue last year with the suicide of Grace McComas a student at Glenelg High School. Since then the Howard County School System has been active in educating students and the general public on the issue of bullying. This effort has been taken up by Baltimore Raven Ray Rice.
Recently this effort to address school bullying was partnered by the American Visionary Museum. The Museum has a current exhibition called "The Art of Storytelling" that addresses the topic of "lies and hurtful speech." The Museum reached out to form a partnership with the Howard County School System, with assistance from the Howard County Arts Council, to create a quilt project with 5 Howard County schools to give a visual statement on the impacts of bullying. The quilt you see above came out of this effort. This quilt and 4 others will be on display at the Columbia Mall starting today. The following is info from the Museum's press release:
KINDNESS WORKS Exhibitions
AVAM's Educational Outreach to Howard County Schools to
help end bullying
The Mall in Columbia: MARCH 28 – APRIL 7, 2013
Howard County Center for the Arts: JUNE 3 – JULY 2,
2013, Reception: JUNE 20, 6pm–8pm
In salute of Howard County’s community response to the
plight of young people devastated by bullying, AVAM has engaged National Art
Honors Society students from five Howard County high schools in creating canvas
quilts that express acts of kindness, courage, and personal responses to
bullying. The quilts represent a collective voice of pro-civility,
composed of individual expressions. The resulting collaborative project will
consist of five, 5’x5’ quilts, which will be displayed at The Mall in Columbia
(March 28–April 7), and at the Howard County Center for the Arts (June 3–July
2), with a reception at the Howard County Center for the Arts on June 20 from
6pm–8pm. Both exhibitions, and the reception on June 20th are open to the
public. Schools participating in the KINDNESS WORKS project include: Hammond
High School; Long Reach High School; Oakland Mills High School; Wilde Lake High
School; and Howard High School.
LOCATIONS:
THE MALL IN COLUMBIA: 10300 Little Patuxent Pkwy,
Columbia, MD 21044, http://www.themallincolumbia.
HOWARD COUNTY CENTER FOR THE ARTS: 8510 High Ridge Road,
Ellicott City, MD 21043, http://hocoarts.org/center_
This quilt was done by students at Oakland Mills High School involved in the National Art Honor Society. It was a meaningful experience for all who participated and a great opportunity. Thanks for sharing!
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