WE ARE ALL MAGICS BIS project continued this school year

PHOTOS PROVIDED
Barberton students have been interviewing community members as a component of a project made possible thanks to a grant from the Ohio Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. Kenneth J. Smith “Coach Jo-Jo” is a professional speaker and Dara Harper returns as an artist-in-residence again at BIS.

Ryan Struckel, Kave Coffee Bar manager and art teacher Mr. Suppan participated in interviews with community members as part of the “We Are All Magics” project.

By CHRISTINA McCUNE
BGNN managing editor

BARBERTON Consider it Part 2.

This school year, Barberton students have embarked on a second part of a unique, remarkable and memorable project that continues the theme: “We Are All Magics.”

Like the 2024-2025 school year, the project incorporates art, history, families, businesses, community, storytelling and much more.

Last school year, students prepared essays and illustrations explaining their families’ ties and contributions to the Magic City. Artist-in-residence Dara Harper used these to sketch the outline of a mural filling a lower-level wall at Barberton Intermediate School. White Rabbit Galleries displayed students’ work which included artwork, family artifacts and heirlooms.

For both school years, the school has partnered with teaching artist and master storyteller Harper as well as community members, businesses and organizations.

This school year, the focus for the “We Are All Magics” project is “Listen to What We Look Like.”

As the country celebrates its 250th birthday and the city of Barberton marks 135 years, “We are telling the story of our community today,” according to information provided. “Through art and story, we are documenting our place, as we are and where we are today, on the timeline of our country and of our town.”

Thanks to a generous grant from Ohio Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, BIS students are working with Harper to create a portrait of the community at this time in history.

The project consists of three parts:
• Students interviewing successful adults who have touched the community in some way; each class has had a special person to get to know. The school has hosted people from all walks of life who make up the community including veterans, public servants, teachers, artists, business owners, community leaders, parents, and senior citizens. Photos of some of those who visited the school are available on Barberton Intermediate Schools’ Facebook page.
• Students also learned about the art of soundscape, or Foley, and have created their own special portion of the sounds of BIS.
• Finally, each student has created either a self portrait or a portrait of someone influential in their life.
“As we work, we talk about leaving a legacy, learning from others, and loving our community and those around us,” according to information provided by art teacher MaryElizabeth Norman. “As artists, we talk about making change and reflecting change, ways of being, ways of knowing, and ways of doing. Through this creative and collaborative process, we come back around to…home, and who we are, here and now.”

Norman said the project is related to last year’s project in the following ways:
• Ohio Arts Council has again funded the project through a TeachArtsOhio Grant, which brings teaching artists into the schools and the community. National Endowment for the Arts has joined Ohio Arts Council in funding this initiative this year.
• Dara Harper is back with the school, working in much the same way with each rotation of classes, making sure she touches the creativity of every student at BIS, Norman said. The TeachArts Ohio grant pays for her to be at the school all year.
• An exhibition as part of the District B Arts Show will be shown again at White Rabbit Galleries. Work will be present as a key part of the district show, and celebrating America250/Barberton135.

“Our exhibit will not be quite as large as last year’s show, but will include photos and commentary from the community interviews; and rather than video, it will feature a soundscape, an audio portrait of our school, running throughout the exhibit,” Norman said.

She said this year’s work can be considered Part 2 because of these commonalities, “and because while last year delved into the history of our community, this year we are bringing our lens forward, documenting ourselves and our community as we are in present-day, during our birthyear!”

Norman said they had to write a new grant – reapplying for the same grant from Ohio Arts Council as last year – requesting to renew for this time period, and for the updates to the project.

“We Are All Magics: Listen to What We Look Like” is the title of the project and exhibit and suggests the community interview component, and the soundscape portion of the exhibit, in addition to the visual art of all the student self portraits, Norman said.

When asked whether students and the community can look for a Part 3, Norman wrote in an email: “We are considering a continuation for next year, but nothing has been determined at this point.”

The public is welcome to view the District B Arts Show, including the special feature, “We Are All Magics: Listen to What We Look Like,’ which opens at White Rabbit Galleries Friday, March 20. Gallery hours are 4-7 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday. The show will run through April 11. Barberton City Schools’ Tri-Arts Festival will be 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25 at Barberton High School. The BIS hallway will be the exhibit showing there, including new work.