Bellevue School District: Student Artwork Celebrates Connection, Collaboration & Identity

Press release from the Bellevue School District:

2022-02-03

Recently, BSD Communications invited students and staff to share their original visual artwork with the greater community. In a pilot initiative, we are testing a process that would allow the district to showcase student art as a banner on the bsd405.org homepage on a rotating basis each month.

This month, students and staff were asked to share their imagery centered around February’s Black History Month. This initiative was met with outstanding enthusiasm from the student and staff community, and we are delighted to share our first original artwork banner.

In celebration of artists who represent a diverse range of perspectives, Ms. Davidson’s art classes at Enatai Elementary had the opportunity to study the work of Shantel Martin. Each of the classes created the original works seen on the district website banner based on the black and white mural drawings of Ms. Martin, a female British artist of color. The project for the third through fifth graders focused on the themes of collaboration, connection and identity.

Shantel Martin utilizes her art to reflect intersectionality and identity. She teaches as an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) and encourages students to push the boundaries of storytelling, visual art and technology. She describes her work as a meditation of lines; a language of characters, creatures and messages that invites viewers to share a role in the creative process. For more information about her art, please visit her website.

This press release was produced by the Bellevue School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.