Through Our Eyes

Team Members: Mike Alexander, Melinda Gillispie, Nancy Halverson, Crystal Hardesty, Ana Parra, Karen Schwartz, John Soapes

The conversations that took place during the Spring 2014 Upstate DLI class were profound and impactful for this group, and created a desire to initiate similar, age-appropriate opportunities for the youth in the community. Through the 2014 IGNITE Summer Arts Camp, an annual camp offered by The Children’s Museum of the Upstate and the South Carolina Governor’s School for rising 7th and 8th graders throughout the state, the Through Our Eyes team had the opportunity to provide a unique experience.

Students explored diversity through activities and artistic projects during the week, including engaging in certain activities and curriculum developed and led by the capstone team. During the week, each student was given a camera phone, courtesy of Verizon, and asked take pictures of images that illustrate their view(s) of diversity. The pictures were then incorporated by the students into artistic pieces that were shared at the camp’s closing reception on June 13th. While the students created individual pieces, our team also created a montage of all the pictures taken to show the diversity of viewpoints and artistic expression.

Collectively, the pieces were the students’ representation of diversity “through our eyes.”