Screen Printing Events for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMiW)
School/Teacher/Classroom or Arts Organization/Mentor: All My Relations Art
Grade Level or Age of Participants: All levels and ages
MCAD Teaching Artist: Courtney Cochran
Number of Participants: 100-300
Overview of Project: Community members can choose to make a MMIW screen prints on paper, t-shirts or banners at these traveling events. If they choose to print, they will learn how to pull a screen and why raising awareness for MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMAN is important.
“Big Ideas”/ Essential QUESTION(s): How we can stand in solidarity to raise continued awareness for MMIW in any art form or non-art event.
Student Outcome Objectives:
Community members can choose to:
Spread awareness for MMIW with this art form
Learn how to pull a screen and print an image
Choose to paint a blank banner by hand
Raise awareness of social issues using screen printing
Prior Knowledge: No prior knowledge required, everyone welcome!
Examples of Artwork: Images will be printed for participants to see what we are creating, no other examples are needed. Many have already seen the image since this has been a yearly event.
Assessment: It’s more about building community together rather than strictly a student-teacher dynamic in these workshops. There is no hierarchy and these events and some volunteers are even first time printers, we are all standing together and learning from each other in many ways than an art form.
We show the people who choose to participate that they can use this medium to spread awareness in a way that can reach multiple people even after the events by wearing these designs on a daily basis. Assessment is focused on participation and participants engagement with the activity and the community in preparation for the event.
Materials:
Paint
Screens prepared with content
Tables
Tarps for tables
Spatulas
Squeegees
Spray bottles
Clamps
Clothes pins
String
Learning Activities and Timing:
With time and studio space, goals are not to have community learn every step that goes into creating a design, burning to cleaning screens. These workshops offer the community a way to use the arts to carry their voices. Participants arrive throughout the printmaking workshop.
Step by Step
Artists are on site preparing screens, setting up and printing before the event begins.
As participants arrive artists teach them how to pull/print onto fabric and or poster paper.
Prints need to dry before they can be used.
Teaching Artist Reflection: Things might move too slowly while teaching inexperienced community members; screens can get too dry. If so, all we need to do is wash the screens. These projects goes beyond traditional classroom requirements because we are working with a larger community and don’t look at the quality of the print but rather than the time our community came together.