The Picket Fence and the Barn Quilt projects are offered through the United Arts Council Artist-in-Residence program. The United Arts Council serves Wake County and Johnson County by providing grants to bring professional teaching artists directly to schools. I am also offering these programs to other schools and districts outside of the United Arts Council. Please contact me for further information if you would be interested in having either of these programs at your schools or as a community art program. For more information, please go to https://unitedarts.org/artist-directory/?&s=Virginia%20Maier for the United Arts Council Artist-in-Residence programs.
Picket Fence Project
A collaborative art installation that allows students to have a chance to paint a unique wooden picket depicting his/her own self or an idealized version of themselves. The individual pickets will then be combined into a fence for an installation that we can attach along an existing fence, wall, or other location chosen by the school, creating a permanent visual legacy for their school. This project enhances personal identity and growth while simultaneously providing a sense of place in their community under the guidance of a professional artist.
The Barn Quilt Project
Students will paint their own Barn Quilts on a 2′ by 2′ wood panel. Schools will decide before the residency if they would like to have a legacy that students leave at the school as a permanent display or have the works returned to students after a period of display. Students will have an introduction of the history of Barn Quilts and the Pennsylvania Dutch practice of painting designs of meaning to their barns and houses. Students will be asked to create symbols of meaning to them, or in honor of their own history and families. They will then design and paint their own designs using brushes, tape, stencils, rulers, etc.