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Sense of Wonder's annual art show Theater : Untouchable voices, not only in India Caste Off: Touching India in Song and Stories Twenty Years of Wonder, Artists At Camp Celebrate With Record A Party at Sense of Wonder Weekend Celebration at Sense of Wonder Oak Bluffs Column by BETTYE FOSTER BAKER Artists in Charge at Sense of Wonder Artist’s Honesty Portraits Inspire Kids to Find Own Sense of Truth Campers Sense A Wonderful World Sense Of Wonder Winds Down Summer Camp Fosters Yearlong Values Young Artists Deliver
Message of Hope and Peace Camp Mines Imagination
To Foster Rich Sense of Wonder The Sense of
Wonder Students Put Their
Artistic Touch on Island Hospital
Oak Bluffs Column by BETTYE FOSTER BAKER Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian who stood against the I discovered such a place on the Island this summer by chance, The Sense of A Haitian artist who brought his paintings was at the camp a week ago, just Each week the children focus on a theme and express ideas and impressions Another camper, eight-year old Iverson Charles Gandy of Belton, Mo., Iverson's take was equally heart-warming. It was great!It was fun. I got Grammy D (Diane) was in agreement with Iverson. She said she found out The late Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, in his last speech took our This underlying moral concept has been a consistent American challenge
Artist’s Honesty Portraits Inspire Kids to Find Own Sense of TruthPublished in the Vineyard Gazette, July 31, 2009
“I believe that the animals and the environment shouldn’t be hurt because of the love of money.” Lily McRae, 10, of Wellesley explains that a person must advocate his or her “truth,” or personal conviction, by example. “It’s not just saying, ‘You should turn off all the lights when you’re not using them.’ It’s doing what you’ve been saying you should be doing.” At Sense of Wonder Creations camp last week, Lily says, she and the other 25 campers identified their beliefs and then learned to embody them. Sense of Wonder Creations, a program offering weeklong summer camps for children ages seven to 12, aims to foster creativity in its campers through the creative arts and social, cultural and environmental awareness projects. Director Pam Benjamin founded the nonprofit camp, held at her home in Vineyard Haven, to prevent children from losing creativity in adulthood. Surrealist artist-turned-political-painter Robert Shetterly, a resident of Maine, visited the camp last week for a four-day workshop promoting honesty and integrity through art. Mr. Shetterly taught lessons in art and character, a seminar modeled after his award-winning book titled Americans Who Tell the Truth, a collection of portraits, biographies and the defining quotes of 50 truth-seeking Americans. Mr. Shetterly’s portraits depict American truth-tellers living or dead, storied or obscure, like Rosa Parks, Emma Goldman, Mark Twain and Howard Zinn — all with illuminated faces, closed mouths and imposing eyes. Scratched into the earth-tone panel backdrops are thin, imperfect, white letters that spell out quotes once spoken by the subjects that reflect an unflagging devotion to integrity. “What I wanted to do was really make you feel like you are in the presence of these people,” Mr. Shetterly says. “They are there, looking at you, and in a sense appealing to your integrity to listen and care and then act.”
A Walt Whitman quote, hanging on the wall of Mr. Shetterly’s home art studio, also influenced the project: “This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone who asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unkno wn.” “What [Walt Whitman] means by that is every breathing thing in the universe is essentially equal,” Mr. Shetterly says. “No one has to take off their hat and bow down to anything else ... and, much more than that, we have to support each other and the welfare of each others lives or we will no longer exist in the world.”
It is the lessons etched in the portraits of those Mr. Shetterly paints that he now teaches to children in classrooms, camps and community centers across the country. And in sharing the legacies of others, he too has become a proponent of truth. At Sense of Wonder Creations, Mr. Shetterly encouraged each camper to join him. In an effort to illuminate and promote their own ideals through art, the campers rendered not the faces and declarations of historical figures, as Mr. Shetterly does, but of themselves. On the final day of the workshop, the youngsters displayed their art and guiding principles to their parents and each other.
“There is no such thing as a mess-up,” is marked boldly across another portrait. “We should stop the war,” is penned in black marker atop the self-portrait of a yellow-haired, blue-eyed girl. Set between a series of fantastical illustrations of a seagull, snake and fish are three words: “Explore new things.”
Summer Camp Fosters Yearlong Values Mondays at lunchtime, the children at Pam Benjamin's Sense of Wonder summer camp introduce themselves. It takes a little while for the counselors to wrangle the 20-odd kids into a restless calm, but once subdued, they are ready to listen. Mrs. Benjamin (called Pam by her campers) addresses the group in a sweet, high voice. "Okay, so we're going to go around the circle and say our names, where we're from, what we like to do most, what we'd like to be when we grow up and -- if you have one -- what your cause is. Can anyone tell us what a cause is?" Eager hands shoot up around the circle, and she calls on an intelligent and talkative boy named Hudson. He explains that a cause is something that needs to be helped in the world; he cites the continuing violence in Darfur as his cause. The children -- future horse trainers, veterinarians, fashion designers and lawyers -- take this business of choosing a cause seriously. Many are concerned about endangered species (the white tiger is a particular favorite) but others would like to keep the oceans clean, bring American soldiers back from Iraq or keep farmland from being overdeveloped on the Vineyard. Then there is Daniel, an exuberant future scientist whose cause is to save the world from being taken over by robots. The mix of gravity and whimsy seems to be the key to Mrs. Benjamin's Sense of Wonder Creations, through which she runs the summer day camp and after-school programs throughout the year. She has held the camp at her home in Vineyard Haven since 1991, and though it has grown over the years, her core philosophy has remained constant. "Because kids come back every year I try not to repeat the activities, but we always incorporate awareness of multicultural and ethnic diversity, and helping the environment," she said. Behind every project is a value or a lesson, which goes down with a spoonful of sugar. Mrs. Benjamin's young campers are equally happy constructing solar ovens or writing songs with names like Gimme Some Peace (But Hold the Carrots) as they are soaring on the rope swing or swimming off the dock. Students play drums and instruments from all over the world, and produce one-act plays about righting injustices. Through collaborations with Camp Jabberwocky and the Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, the campers also have the opportunity to interact with people who are older and differently abled. The kids are enthusiastic. As Oliver Silberstein-Roosevelt, age eight, puts it: "This camp rocks! It is awesome, and it totally rocks!" In past years, students have beautified the hospital with murals about peace and justice. In both winter and summer, they make arts and crafts to benefit various causes; this summer, kids raised $800 to be split evenly between an orphanage in Kenya and environmental education at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. They also paint murals to exchange with students in other countries, most recently Mexico and Italy. "I wanted to bring different elements together. I wanted to encourage a creative expression, trying to get kids away from the instant gratification of video games and TV, and try to get to their own centers of creativity," Mrs. Benjamin said. To this end, all weapons or weapon-like toys are banned. Children are asked to draw from their own imaginations, and Mrs. Benjamin discourages her charges from being overly critical of their work. "If they feel intimidated, I tell them that Picasso said he had learned everything he needed to know about art by the time he was 14 -- and he spent the rest of his life trying to unlearn the rest," she said. "Adults collect and sometimes mimic children's artwork because of its innocence, immediacy and spontaneity. It's the imperfections that are beautiful." Since incorporating as a nonprofit in January 2004, Ms. Benjamin has been able to extend Sense of Wonder Creations beyond her backyard. Using funds raised under this status, she has brought to the Island speakers such as Rob Shetterly, an artist whose current project is titled Americans Who Tell the Truth. Mr. Shetterly paints portraits of courageous figures, among them Caesar Chavez, Rachel Carson and Woody Guthrie, who may serve as examples to contemporary society. The artist lectured to the community and to students at Vineyard schools. His fusion of creativity and social conscience is an ideal toward which Mrs. Benjamin would like her campers to strive. In addition to the camp, speaker series and winter program, Mrs. Benjamin is wrapping up the final shooting and editing for a documentary that she filmed at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. It focuses on the topics of peace and justice -- subjects that are particularly timely considering the war in Iraq and heightened tensions between immigrant and nonimmigrant students. "In the film, both sides express their views," she said. "Many Brazilian kids feel there is a lot of prejudice against them; kids will make comments at them in the halls. Certain parents are upset because some Brazilian families are here illegally, and aren't paying taxes, but their kids are using the school. Some are worried about Brazilians taking jobs." The problem is by no means insoluble, she added. "This Island has a long history of integrating people from all over. African-Americans, Azores Islanders, Cape Verdeans have all become wonderful parts of the community. All it takes is time to get to know each other -- the high school has to listen to the kids." She continued: "There were some conflicts last spring, but we shouldn't have to wait until there's a fight. It should be an active part of our education to make an effort to get to know the Brazilian kids and their culture. As it is now, there isn't a program to do that." When asked if she would like to head up such a project, the tireless Ms. Benjamin smiled beatifically and said, "I'd love to work on that." This article reprinted from the September 9, 2005 edition of the Vineyard Gazette.
Young Artists Deliver
Message of Hope and Peace "Did you know that the walls of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital have been graced? Graced by the creative paintbrushes and bright imaginations of young Island artists? Just inside the entrance of the hospital's doctors' wing, a colorful mural welcomes all, glimmering with portraits of some of humanity's greatest heroes of peace and justice. The main heroes of this mural, however, are those of our own community who volunteered their time to paint a stark wall bright with life. The mural began in February 2000 as a project led by Pam Benjamin under the artist-in-residence program at the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School. As part of their school schedule, seven charter school students of various ages met once a week at Ms. Benjamin's art studio in Vineyard Haven - where she has taught art to young people for 15 years. Many of these students had worked with Pam previously on a mural outside of the hospital's Vineyard Pediatrics office. That mural has been such a success that Ms. Benjamin, hospital staff, and students were excited to take on a second one. Gathered beneath the vaulting rustic ceilings of the studio, surrounded by maps, dormant puppets, watchful masks, and arts from around the world, charter school students decided upon the theme of the second mural and began to sketch its composition. Ms. Benjamin and hospital staff selected the wall to be painted and reviewed the students' ideas. With paint donated from Island Color Center the students prepared the selected wall with a base coat. Then they transposed their sketched visions onto the wall using pencil. Gradually, they conjured the images to life with bristled wands of color. At the end of the 2000 school year, the artist-in-residence class was finished, but the mural wasn't. Many students from the class chose to continue with the project, volunteering along with Ms. Benjamin. Others from the charter school and Martha's Vineyard Regional High School joined on - some to satisfy a curricular requirement of community service, and others out of a yearning to expand artistic capabilities or to do good for the world. Alexis Iammarino, Corinna McCurdy, Kelly Brown, Xavier Powers, Lily K. Morris, Bronwyn Burns, and Abraham Stimson spent the most time working on the project. Others who added their time and talents to help were Matt McCurdy, Elliot Vecchia, Freya Grunden, and Francesca Mahuzier, a Chilean exchange student. While all the students contributed different amounts of time, the collective effort persevered for three years total. Students followed the original schedule of a couple of hours a week during the springtime each year. This past August, 2002, they brushed on the finishing touches. Peace and Justice The theme of the mural is universal peace and justice - peace and justice shared by all across cultural, ethnic, political or ideological differences. The mural portrays this theme through exuberant and compassionate portraits of members of the human family who have fought for, worked for, and died for peace or justice. Included are Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Mohandas Gandhi, Rigoberta Menchu, and others. The mural presents two heroes - one male and one female - from each of the Earth's continents excepting Antarctica. The 12 portraits are arranged on the wall in the shape of a circle, alluding to the spherical countenance of the planet Earth. Suspended in the center are renditions of places on Earth considered to be sacred; included are Britain's Stonehenge, India's Taj Mahal, Africa's Kalahari Desert, and, close to home, the Statue of Liberty. The students selected their subjects from a number of candidates researched by Ms. Benjamin. Some students spent months on a single portrait, getting to know the hues and wrinkles of the skin, the glint of the eyes, and, perhaps, the spirit of the person they chose. Kelly Brown, a recent charter school graduate, spoke of her experience painting the portrait of Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai (who worked for environmental health, women's rights, and democracy). "While I was painting her, I felt like I was getting to know her," Kelly remarked. "It was inspirational...I felt like I should go home and read about what she's done." Sparking the students' interest in activists of peace and justice was one of Ms. Benjamin's hopes. "We have few heroes today," Ms. Benjamin said. "As civilization has evolved, society has found its heroes in movie stars or sports stars. I wanted to be able to expose the students to heroes who are really helping to improve the world - each helping in their own area. I tried to give the students a chance to appreciate that kind of hero. The importance of that for a young person is great when our culture is bombarding them with other values." Spreading the Message Not only did students become interested in figures of peace and justice, but they embodied these heroic qualities themselves by donating their time and creativity to the benefit of the community. When asked what made her persevere with this project, Kelly Brown responded: "Peace and justice are important because we need them to live. If you don't spread the message of peace, then people may lose sight of it. Projects like this help in a small way, but they're spreading the message and people are seeing it. You need people to start thinking about things like social injustice. It's so easy to live in a bubble in this country. You often don't remember that there's a whole world out there." It feels really good to be making a mural that people can appreciate," said Abraham Stimson, a charter school senior. "I don't usually call myself an artist, but if the message in the art is so strong then I find myself getting into it more strongly. Hopefully the message of peaceful resistance will be more widely known." So now when you swing through the hospital doors - -perhaps apprehensive of a medical reckoning - you are greeted by the warmth of Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the colorful gift of community members. As one passing visitor commented, "It's the first thing you see when you enter, and it makes you feel like the hospital is a pleasant, human place." Corrina McCurdy said she had hoped that this would be people's response. She added: "I think it's important for patients to see images of hope, peaceful faces. If you're coming to the hospital, you want something to cheer you up." Along with its uplifting effect on those entering the hospital, the project aims to have an even farther reaching impact. Ms. Benjamin plans to make and sell cards illustrated with photographs of the mural. Funds raised will go to international organizations working to promote peace and justice throughout the world. As we enter 2003, a time when hope is of great importance to the country as a whole, this small but significant project here on Martha's Vineyard stands as a reminder that hope is not in vain, that beautiful, graceful things do happen.
"There is a place with a sense of wonder. A place in your mind. A place with happiness and joy. A place with magic and beauty," reads a poem written by eight-year-old Olivia Fialkow. What place does her poem refer to? "Your imagination," she answers quickly. This summer, as a camper at the Sense of Wonder Summer Day, Olivia has had the opportunity to use her imagination a lot. "We're not allowed to do anything from video games or TV or computers. We're only allowed to use our imaginations, things we get from our minds," she says. For 10 years now, this day camp has been living up to its name. "The purpose of our program is to nurture the discovery and appreciation of our beautiful world - environmental and ethnic diversity - to become closer to it and learn how to love and care for it. To appreciate the very small wonders as well as the enormous ones to realize how one person can make a difference," a brochure for the camp reads. These are important goals for the campers, who are from seven to 12 years of age. The camp's founder and director, Pam Benjamin, is committed to helping children realize them in unique ways - primarily through art. It only takes a little while in the camp's studio on 23 Grove Avenue in Vineyard Haven to understand how art can be used to teach all sorts of things. Earlier this summer, the children discussed different types of habitats and then created a large mural which depicts a forest, an ocean and part of the Arctic; the mural now hangs on one of the room's walls. When learning about outer space, they used blue fabric and glow-in-the-dark stars to convert the studio's ceiling into a night sky. Nine-year-old Marlan Sigelman is working on a birdhouse in the camp's studio. "It's one of the best camps on earth," she says. "I just love art, making stuff. You can make anything you need; I don't understand how you could need anything else." Not that everything has been easy at Sense of Wonder. "It's just this birdhouse was a little bit hard to make, but it was fun," she says, painting one of its sides a deep violet. "I just kept banging the nails in the wrong ways, but I could fix them." At the side of the room, Olivia operates a glue gun, using popsicle sticks to construct a tiny set of bunk beds for a wooden boat she has recently made. "I don't think I'll make a bunk bed," she eventually concludes. "It's kind of hard." She moves on to fashion a rudder out of felt. "They tip over without rudders," she explains. What does she like about this camp? "I just like the art, the location; I just like it. There's no place like it anywhere else," she says. The children's projects are not limited to the visual arts; they write plays and stories as well. Camper Michael Robinson describes how, earlier in the summer, the group wrote the story lines for plays that had themes against violence which they later improvised. His was about people and ogres who were going to have a war, but decided to break for coffee instead. "I was going to be one of the ogres, but I got conjunctivitis and couldn't," he says. "At least I had the pride of sitting back and watching the finished piece." He returns to shifting through various bins that contain bright feathers, beads and buttons. Eleven-year-old Matthew Scott describes one of his favorite projects of the summer, a project which took place entirely in the mind. "You had to imagine this world you had to make; it couldn't be like anything you see today. It had to be from your imagination," he says. He pictured a world populated by little people who lived in a castle underground. The children's projects are not limited to the camp grounds. This summer the kids visited Camp Jabberwocky and presented the campers with hats they had made for them. "We watched them practice their play, so it was a mutual creativity exchange," Pam says. They also visited Windemere Nursing Home and hung posters around the Island instructing tourists how to love and care for the Vineyard. Recently, the group has been planning how they can use their art in a very practical way to help others. From 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, they will be selling their birdhouses, flower pots, pottery, silk scarves and painted paper lanterns at the studio. The proceeds from the sale will be donated to two organizations: Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Casa de Milagros, a children's orphanage in Peru. Pam explained how this project uses the children's art to help animals, the environment, other children and a foreign country. "I think between Felix Neck and the orphanage in Peru, it covered all the different things we study," she says. This afternoon the campers will also raffle off a six-foot giraffe they have created. The campers, who are a mix of Islanders and visitors, can spend anywhere from a week to an entire summer at Sense of Wonder. While the majority of their days are spent in the studio, they also take advantage of the beach and the popular turtle raft. The children are guided through their days by Pam Benjamin and two adult counselors as well as three teenage counselors in training. The relationships these leaders form with the children are important in helping to foster their creativity. Pam explains how she and the counselors try "to give them a safe place with lots of encouragement and love where they can put their imaginations to good use." One of the counselors, Shawn McCullough, agrees that the friendships that form between the counselors and campers help the camp work. "I'd say probably because of the freedom and the caring guidance - the real sense of caring guidance - something on a deeper level, children walk away I think really affected," he says while helping campers glue masts onto their boats. Throughout the summer, Pam also invites other adults to the camp to lead the children in various activities. Today in the backyard, Jennifer McCurdy is showing the campers how to paint three white silk scarves. "We want lots of color and lots of blending," she instructs. "It's okay to go over in someone else's area because this is a team effort." The smock-clad children stand around the large wooden frames which the scarves are stretched over and apply the bright fabric dyes. "I want everyone to go switch places; if we all switch places,. We'll have more of a team effort," Jennifer says. The children move to different sections of the rectangular frames. A boy ducks down to look at the underside of one of the scarves. "Oh, that looks so cool on the bottom," he says. Jennifer agrees. "You'll see that it dries a lot lighter; that is one of the interesting things about it," she says. Do children ever have difficulty adjusting to Sense of Wonder? "I've never had a child not react well," Pam says. "They really want to know. They're always asking questions." Pam notes that she certainly can't take all the credit for this. "I don't feel it's me that's doing all of this; it has to do with God and spirit, too," she says. Whatever the reason, Sense of Wonder certainly seems to be a beloved place. Ten-year-old Elizabeth Sharpe-Levine doesn't plan to leave any time soon. "I want to be here forever, until I grow up," she says. "And when I grow up I'm going to be a counselor."
Art teacher Pamela Benjamin talks with News Editor Kim Shippey Throughout the northern summer months of July and August, a day camp on the island of Martha's Vineyard, about five miles off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts, has brought together dozens of children between the ages of seven and twelve. They have gathered to explore the creative arts blended with an awareness of the environment, of different cultures, and of community and social issues. The director of this annual camp is Pamela Benjamin, who describes herself as an artist, art teacher, Sunday School teacher, dancer, sailor, environmentalist, and mother-not necessarily in that order. She explained to us that the purpose of the camp is "to promote the discovery and appreciation of our world-its environmental and ethical diversity-and to help children become closer to it and learn how to love and care for it. To appreciate the very small wonders as well as the big ones-and how not to lose them" The age range is extended to eighteen for fall, winter and spring sessions at the same island venue. Free to explore "We aim to leave campers in no doubt that everyone has creative talent," says Mrs. Benjamin. "Each person is unique, and has inherent potential and ability. In an atmosphere of love and with vast amounts of encouragement, we want the campers to feel free to explore, discover, and put their ideas into form without comparison or negative criticism. "Over the years, I have had to come to terms with the widely held belief that although all children are creative, this lessens markedly as adulthood approaches. I am convinced that this discouraging trend can be avoided. " "I try to show my students how to recognize and then to challenge and overcome any human belief or any mental block that would obstruct the natural flow of abundant ideas. Children can learn to reject such things as peer pressure and feelings of inadequacy, and this opens the door t uninhibited creativity and new ways of seeing." "When they are drawing, painting, or sculpting from life, I show them how to study an object or a scene and observe it carefully. One can always find something new. But looking isn't always seeing. Really seeing something with your heart and soul brings your artist's lens into the focus of resolution and discernment." "In a society bombarded with media-related entertainment that produces instant gratification," continues Mrs. Benjamin, "the accomplishment of even a simple task is often lost to impatience and frustration. Capturing childrens' interest and cultivating new ways of seeing brings patience, peace, and joy to the creative journey. Cherishing the process leads to a greater mastery of skill and the genuine satisfaction of seeing an original idea being brought to fruition." A higher source "Taking this a step further, we sometimes point out to the campers that their abilities come from a higher source than they might have realized. We talk about our spirituality, emphasizing that creative expression cannot be obscured or circumscribed in any way." Mrs. Benjamin tells us that it's relatively easy to interest children in community service. "They have an understanding of people and situations and nature that constantly surprises me. Their compassion quickly comes to the surface. Our job is to provide them with opportunities for the expression of these qualities." "For example, we arranged for them to paint a mural in a local hospital. It was deeply appreciated by the patients and the staff, and the director of nursing told us that it was having a broad-reaching, healing effect. On another occasion, they painted a mural on the back of a building in a park where officials were having a problem with graffiti. " "We ask the children if they would like to make a donation to a good cause in the community through the sale of one of their creations-a painting, print, mosaic, or pottery. This brings them a much deeper understanding of what it means to give. It completes the circle of love." Sense of joy In her nine years of running what she calls her "Sense of Wonder" camp, Mrs. Benjamin admits she has learned a lot from her pupils. "they have such a ready sense of joy and spontaneity and freedom. They like me to talk about the French expressionist movement in the early part of this century when Matisse, Derain, and Vlaminck cut loose with their bold distortion of form and their use of strong, pure color. The children love the freedom of being allowed to paint, say, a yellow tree or a pink banana. "This appeals especially to an eleven-year-old who is blind. He has been coming to camp for several years, and he knows and loves everybody. He's never shy; never lacks inspiration. In drawing classes he uses a screen board that allows him to add more texture through bigger chunks of crayon. He can feel with his hands where the marks are. And he's fantastic with clay-making bells and animals and all sorts of structures that he has seen only in his imagination. This is so inspiring for the other kids - and for me! " A brother and sister, who speak only French, have come several times from Switzerland. They have shown us all how to communicate without language, and they have reminded us that art leaps over the boundaries of nationality and culture and anything else you might try to put in its way. "And when we move from painting and sculpture to art history, the pupils readily appreciate that artistic creations that embody spiritual qualities are the ones that endure. They rise above and persist beyond the era in which they were created." "This point was eloquently made by a former art critic of The Christian Science Monitor , Harold Rogers, in an article that was published in The Christian Science Journal in April 1968: "The artist who would be divinely inspired...will seek his artistic fulfillment through reflecting and manifesting the qualities of Soul that are included in his true consciousness." "What a goal for all of us to carry into our daily lives - long after summer camp has closed."
Students Put
Their Artistic Touch on Island Hospital AIt's a rainy May Monday afternoon. A perfect day for an after school nap, cuddling up with a good book, or losing yourself on the Internet for a few hours. But for Pam Benjamin and her studio art students, it's the day to work on the mural they are painting along the main corridor of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. Ms. Benjamin, her assistant Sharron Penicaud, and about seven students have worked on the mural for several weeks now, and are putting on smaller details and finishing touches. They expect to have it completed by mid-June. Well, maybe a week later because next week they can't meet. Oh, they can't meet the week after that either, and then they'll have to miss another week in early June. But the push to get it done is on. The students, from all Island towns, work cheerfully and playfully. The scene: Martha's Vineyard. Each student is working on a different Island town, and Nathaniel Stimson, a Menemsha fifth grader, is carefully painting boats. The mural covers a large part of the corridor wall from the floor up. It is approximately 25 feet long. Ms. Benjamin got the idea to do the mural when she was visiting someone in the hospital. She noticed "a lot of blank walls" and thought it might be nice to fill one of them up with some painting. "Doing community service is part of taking my class," she explains. A few years ago, she and several students painted a mural at Veteran's Memorial Park in Vineyard Haven. Ms. Benjamin asked her current students if they would like to do a mural at the hospital. Their response was positive and they began to put together ideas. Where to do it, what to do, how to go about it. The first thing to do was call the hospital, where Ms. Benjamin was put in touch with Patricia Tarkoy, community relations coordinator, who thought it was a wonderful idea. To handle the details of the project, Ms. Tarkoy referred her to Joan Meadows, CEO of the hospital. "We talked about the concept and walked around and looked at different sites," Ms. Meadows remembers. At first, they considered a children's scene in pediatrics. But Ms. Meadows wanted the piece to get the maximum exposure. "I loved the idea and wanted it in a spot that was heavily trafficked, so we decided on the main corridor," she says. The corridor leads to the emergency room, the lobby, doctors' offices, acute care, and patients' rooms. Together, Ms. Meadows and Ms. Benjamin decided on a north view of the shore with landmarks and landscapes characteristic to each town as the focus of the scene. The students decided which town they would work on and began sketching ideas, leaving the finer details to be finished on the actual piece itself. They took their ideas from postcards and books and from their own general knowledge about the island. Island Color Center donated the latex paint for the water and sky. Ms. Benjamin donated acrylic paints and supplies. And, of course, the students agreed to donate their time, working around schedule conflicts and carefully choosing this project over another after school activity. First Things First: Sanding When they arrived at the hospital to begin the project, the first order of business was to sand the wall. Then they drew the outline and the basic parts and rolled the wall with blues and browns for the sky, the sand, and the water. The wall was then divided into equal parts and each student began work on their own. Lily Knight-Morris of Chappaquiddick is working on Edgartown and Chappy. She is an l lth grade home schooler who has worked with Ms. Benjamin on and off for six years and helped with the veteran's park mural. Her work captures the architecture of the historic whaling town and the serene landscape of Chappaquiddick. Her blues are soothing and rich. "It's nice to do a little each week," she says. "I like to take the week to think about what I'm going to paint the next week." Ms. Knight-Morris researched her town by walking around and looking at the buildings in Edgartown, amazed and delighted with details she never noticed and architecture that transcends centuries. Alex Iammarino, a charter school student from Vineyard Haven, is recreating Oak Bluffs on the main corridor wall. Her Oak Bluffs cottages are brightly colored and ornate. She has worked with Ms. Benjamin " a lo-o-o-ong time," she explains, steadily taking her classes or attending her summer art camp. She also worked on the veteran's park mural. "We laugh a lot," she explains of the experience. "We're definitely doing something good here." Corinna McCurdy, also a charter school student from Vineyard Haven, is painting Vineyard Haven. A student of Ms. Benjamin's for the past four years, she has never worked on a mural before. She says it feels "more permanent" than working on canvas. "Everyone is going to see it!" she exclaims in the vulnerable voice of an artist, for whom bearing her work is bearing her soul. Ms. McCurdy says she feels challenged by the project because she usually paints landscapes and would not think to paint Vineyard Haven. "it shows us what we don't know about our town," she says. "I had to find out what color the roof of the post office is." The Vineyard Haven scene delicately portrays the buildings on and around Main Street, and of course, the Steamship Authority and ferry. Maura Dickson, and MVRHS sophomore from Vineyard Haven, is painting the Agricultural Hall, Alley's General Store, and other familiar scenes from West Tisbury. She's taken five years of art classes but has never done a mural before. Ms. Dickson says that painting on a wall is more interesting than working on canvas. She's enjoying the project because it is a nice break from the stresses of school. "It makes you feel good," she adds. Abraham Stimson, the older brother of Nathaniel, is painting Aquinnah. He is a charter school student who moved to the Island from Maine. His scene depicts the majestic, colorful cliffs in all their glory, lighthouse atop. Mr. Stimson agrees that painting the mural is a nice break from school. "Not that school's bad," he's quick to add. Ms. Benjamin carefully and tenderly paints sheep amongst the Chilmark landscape. Menemsha and Chilmark are a joint effort shared by Ms. Benjamin and Islander Tim Laursen, now a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. Ms. Penicaud paints the underwater scene, literally. "This is the problem with murals," she laughs. The rain has leaked through the door she's painting on. Her images are detailed and lifelike, the only scene in the painting that has images (shells, starfish, underwater creatures) close to their actual size. As the artists work, passers-by comment on the mural. They are delighted with the bright colors and intricate details. "It looks terrific," says one. "You're cheering everyone right up! Thank you." The students beam humbly, grateful for the acknowledgements, oblivious to the rain the pours down outside.
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P.O. Box 1558 · 23 Grove Avenue
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568