Artist's Statement

The Kids Risk Project: Painting with a Message

"We studied Pop Art, the work of Keith Haring and other artists, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Christo. We looked at what was going on in the world at the time and how it could influence an artist's work. We especially liked the work of Keith Haring, how he simplified things, used little text, his color choices and how could get across an important message. Ms. Hatch told us about the Kids Risk Project that is part of an important study at the Harvard School of Public Health. We decided to create our work as a unit of panels that could be displayed together. We wanted our messages to be directed at younger kids, things that we thought that they should be made more aware of, could interpret and understand. We learned some things ourselves along the way, such as how important it is for our parents to know where we are and to phone home if we change our plans or are going to be later than expected. Planning stages were essential, as were the layout of the composition, color experimentation and applying color theory. All played a big role in this project. We stopped as we progressed and assessed our work individually and collectively, to see if our message was clear and to make it hold together and work as a unit. We critiqued our own work by using the student rubric based on the criteria established for the project."

Student artists were in the Art 1 Foundations classes, periods 5/2 and 6/3 at the Muriel S. Snowden International School at Copley, located at the cloud foundation visual arts studio space (grades 9-12).

Submitted by: Ms Linda Hatch, Visual Arts Educator and MAAE Distinguished Visual Arts Educator 2002-2003. Check out Haring Kids for a lesson plan!