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The idea for the murals, began last
summer with “I Am” poems from fourth grade students at Dag
Hammarskjold, School #6
http://www.rochesterchildrenwrite.com/I_Am_Letters/Dianajha_poem.html
and
http://www.rochesterchildrenwrite.com/I_Am_Letters/I_am_Deja.html.
Dale Davis shared the poems with students / inmates at Monroe
County Jail and incorporated the poems into the play, “I Stand
Here Before You,” she wrote with the students / inmates last
year.
The students / inmates began to
think about the way their actions effected “the hearts of the
young ones,” their children and their siblings. Together the
students / inmates became determined to help the young children.
After much discussion the idea of murals for the Visiting Rooms
of Monroe County Jail and Monroe Correctional Facility to help
communication between children and their parents and siblings
who are incarcerated took seed.
This winter Davis presented the
fourth graders’ poems to students / inmates at Monroe County
Jail and Monroe Correctional Facility along with statistics and
research on children whose parents are incarcerated. The
students / inmates put their thoughts and ideas into writing,
sharing and discussing them. Communicating with the students’ /
inmates’ parents while they were incarcerated was also discussed
as something to be included in the murals.
Visual Artist, Margo Muto, a
Teaching Artist who works with The New York State Literary
Center, guided and developed the murals with the students /
inmates. Margo Muto worked with the student students / inmates
on how to translate their writing and ideas into visual language
through working on sketches and incorporating drawing lessons on
line, value, human form. The students / inmates learned about
the mural making process, as they worked on basic
drawing/painting techniques.
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