It’s hard to believe, but we are almost done with the program. *sigh*
Anywho, this week was all about crews: what they are and mean for graffiti writers, why writers form them, what their purpose is, and of course…the girls decided what their crew names would be. They learned about Maripussy (well, the older ones because having 2nd graders say “pussy” didn’t really seem right), the Stick Up Girls, Crazis, Turronas, PMS (provoked many giggles), Girls on Top, and Few and Far. We talked about how being in an all-female crew might make you feel more empowered to keep painting because you are part of a community, and also how you could feel equally disempowered because women are often really hard on each other. We talked about the importance of having each others backs, finding out who someone is before believing a rumor you might hear about them, and the concept of strength in numbers. We also talked about how gender might influence aesthetic choices and value systems ( they learned this after I explained what “aesthetics” are..”oooh, like how you decide to dress”). When I asked them to brainstorm their own crew names, they came up with:
PBC: PINK A BOO CREW
PJC: PINK JAGUARS aka PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY CREW
SGD: SASSY GOLDEN DIVAS CREW
DTM: DOING THE MOST CREW (I’m a big fan of this one)
H2O: HAVE TO OVERCOME CREW
LIP: LADIES IN POWER CREW (and this one)
SSC: SWEET ‘N SOUR CREW
There are more groups that we didn’t get to see this week, but this is a great start. To prepare them for the field trip to Brisky Gallery in Wynwood, we had them use chalk on black construction paper. At times it felt like nails on a chalkboard, but I did my best to power through. Ha.
We visited Brisky Gallery to see the Few & Far production from 2012 Basel. After the Gallery Director, Luis Valle, gave us a tour of the show “Eternal Reflection” we headed to the backyard (BTW, go see this show!!). So finally, we had the chance to talk about graffiti art in front of a real live wall! Once the girls got over the grass being tall and the many little bugs, they focused on what was in front of them–a gorgeous production composed of 13 separate pieces, woven together through color and shape. I walked them through each piece, explaining a little bit about each artist–and I have to say, they are getting pretty good at reading the letters! *swells with pride*
And then we all realized it was like 95 degrees and we were slowly dying. So we went back in, took a mini break and then grabbed some sidewalk chalk and they went to town. We had made photocopies of parts of the wall so the girls could look at them and try to mimic the style of the character or the piece with sidewalk chalk. Then Luis told us that not only could we draw on the sidewalk but also on the building next door! Woot! Some of them were too hot to focus, but others…well, they had a BLAST!
Jessica Nydia Pabón, Phd 