Chemung River School Project: Native American culture at the Chemung Valley History Museum

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Native American culture at the Chemung Valley History Museum

This mastodon tusk is on display at the Chemung Valley History Museum. Students involved with the Chemung River School Project visited the museum this week for Native American presentations facilitated by Joan Neece and Lois Lovgren. The mastodon tusk is significant because the Chemung River got its name when such a horn was discovered there by the Woodland Indians. The Native American word for "Chemung" was pronounced "Shee-nung," meaning "River of Horns."

From the left, Chemung Valley History Museum Director of Education, Kerry Lippincott, poses with Lois Lovgren, "Star Power, " and Joan Neece, "Owl Woman," at the museum for presentations for 4th grade students at Center Street in Horseheads.

Lois presented examples of rainmakers to the students during a workshop she led on Native American crafts. Students also made jewelry, dolls, dream pillows and many more things. Center Street teacher, Amy Karastury, is shown with her students who display the dream pillows they made under the tutelage of Lois Lovgren.

Beth Sheahan accompanied her daughter, Marie, while a friend gets in on the picture!

Marie Collings poses with her grandson, Patrick Broman.

Elaine Benton, teacher, sits with her students in the big gallery at Chemung Valley History Museum for some Native American folklore, history, drumming and chanting. See the video below for a sample of the program.

Owl Woman gestures toward the sky as she relates a fable explaining how the the stars were formed with the help of some of the creatures of our planet. As Joan explained to her attentive audience, fables always involve animals with human characteristics and always contain a moral to the story. The concepts of good and evil are usually represented with no chance of confusing the two. In fables, good most always wins over evil. In this particular myth, the cast of characters includes a badger, an eagle, a buzzard, a sparrow and a woodpecker trying to solve a hunger crisis. There is not enough food for all the creatures of the forest to eat, so the animals form a committee to brainstorm solutions. It is decided that the reason for the food shortage is that it is too dark for the plants to grow. The badger decided they must enlist someone to poke holes in the sky to let more light in for the plants. The badger is a creature with lots of good ideas. The eagle, being a big strong and proud bird volunteers to try flying up to the top of the sky to perforate the membrane separating our world from the light. However, the eagle is just too big to endure the ascension. He returns, tired, defeated and humbled. Many more take up the challenge, but will any of them be able to accomplish this seemingly impossible task? Will they eat or starve?

This is just one of many tales Joan has to tell with lessons to be learned about working together, brainstorming, humility and appreciating the complexity and fragility of the planet.

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THE CHEMUNG RIVER SCHOOL PROJECT

The exciting and innovative program known as the Chemung River School Project - or CRSP - was initiated in 1994 by museum educators at the Arnot Art Museum. The program offers 4th grade students from the region a full school year of a rich and diverse range of experiences which take place in area museums, classrooms and outdoors by the river itself. This nine-month multidisciplinary collaborative program combines fourth grade science, natural and social history, and ecology curricula with writing, literature, performing and visual arts. Artists and museum educators employ methods of teaching which address the whole child – his or her cognitive, affective and physical being. Visual, audio, tactile and kinesthetic learning is intrinsic to arts education and research has proven that multi-sensory stimulation enhances learning and retention in every way.

CRSP has been nationally recognized by the NY State Council on the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Arts. Our educators and presenters are HIGHLY educated and qualified to teach and are willing to work with your teachers to tailor their curriculum to the needs of regional schools. Many of them have received awards for their art and/or their teaching. Our visual artists have hailed from the big cities to our own backyards and have exhibited their artwork in galleries, museums and universities throughout the nation. One of our teaching artists - Damali Abrams - was granted a very prestigious fellowship with the A.I.R. Gallery in New York City. Janna Keser brings not only her education and experience in art education to her teaching, but her travels around the world. Her lesson plans are always fully integrated with social studies and the humanities. Annemarie Zwack and Diedra Krieger each continue to exhibit their work in national venues and receive awards for their work. Kaye Newbury is the featured poet this year for the Festival of Women in the Arts at the Steele Memorial Library and has had years of experience teaching children. Our museum educators at the Arnot Art Museum and the staff at Tanglewood Nature Center, Chemung Valley History Museum and the Cornell Cooperative Extension are, without exception, highly educated, experienced and passionate about their work. The cost of bringing these talented artists and educators into your classroom on an individual basis would be prohibitive, but is an excellent value through CRSP.

NY State Learning Standards in Social Studies, Language Arts, Science and the Arts are met and exceeded in a myriad of ways.

The Chemung River School Project integrates the various aspects of the curriculum into a thematic whole with the river at the center and the arts as the vehicle used for expression of information learned. Part of the program places emphasis on the environmental concerns of the Hudson River School, a group of 19th Century landscape painters, and how this relates to the future of our own Chemung River. Later on, in keeping with the Arnot Art Museum's slogan ART NOW, students are introduced to contemporary artists - some who work in non-traditional media - for whom water and environmental concerns are recurring themes.

Students have the opportunity to recognize the balance which exists between local history, ecological communities, and the dynamic impact of past and living artists on society. Students use the arts as a vehicle to express their understanding of nature, especially as it relates to the Chemung River.

Following the culmination of the project year, in May, a student exhibition featuring visual art and writing is exhibited at the Arnot Art Museum and the Chemung Valley History Museum.

This nationally recognized program has been the recipient of the following grants: New York State Council on the Arts, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Arnot Art Museum works with the Chemung County Historical Society, Tanglewood Nature Center, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, and the following school districts: Elmira, Horseheads, and Waverly. Poets, visual artists, musicians, historians, naturalists and water environmentalists serve as instructors.

Instructors for the 2010/11 School Year:

Writer/Poet
1 Kaye Newbury

Visual Artists
· Georgianna Keser
· Annemarie Zwack

Native American artists

Mike DeMunn

Organizations:
· Arnot Art Museum
· Tanglewood Nature Center
· Chemung County Historical Society
· Cornell University Cooperative Extension

Participating School Districts:
· Horseheads Central School District: Center Street and Big Flats Elementary Schools
· Waverly Central School District: Chemung Elementary

Students enrolled in the Chemung River School Project have educational experiences that cannot be duplicated within the confines of the classroom. In 2010/11, students experienced new methods of learning new content each month.
In September, students met by the river with a poet and science/nature writer and representatives from Tanglewood Nature Center for an introduction to journal writing and the ecosystem of the river and surrounding meadows. Students learned to pay close attention to their sensory impressions of the environment and how to write without inhibition in their journals. They also collected organisms from the water and insects from the field. They constructed a food web and showed the various niches filled by the organisms collected that correlate to human counterparts. Plant specimens were also collected and pressed.

These on-site experiences were followed up with their teachers in the classroom and a couple weeks later as the poet and naturalists visited their classrooms.

In October, students met at the Chemung Valley History Museum with Native American artist and author, Mike DeMunn, for learning about Native American culture through his very own children's book, history, stories and legends. Students then went with CVHM museum educator, Kerry Lippincott for hands-on learning about Indian culture through touching artifacts from the museum's holdings and then playing authentic games and crafts. It was a highly interactive experience involving listening skills and numerous opportunities for creative participation playing authentic musical instruments and making jewelry or utilitarian objects to take with them. Students developed an appreciation for the many inventions and contributions of Native Americans to the agriculture, language and culture of the civilizations that developed along the shores of the Chemung River.

In November, students visited the Arnot Art Museum with Janna Keser and Maria Driscoll McMahon for an introduction to the Arnot Art Museum’s picture gallery and its collection of Hudson River School artists. Students learned that looking at art is a multi-sensory process that also involves critical thinking.

They came away with a new awareness of the environment and of American history by studying the artists of the past as well as contemporary artists. They learned how artists can effect social and environmental change.

The teaching artist, Janna Keser, offered a hands-on activity - the making of fabric collages - for the students for a large portion of the workshop.

In December, the poet from the Riverwalks, Kaye Newbury returned to the classroom to follow up and discuss seasonal changes to the environment. Students reflected on the journal writing they had done in the fall and practiced the art of paying attention with all their senses. Students were introduced to writing haiku poetry which further nurtured a love for literature and language and an appreciation for the natural environment.

In January, artist Annemarie Zwack visited the classrooms to work on the creation of ceramic tiles.

In February, students returned to the Arnot Art Museum for a tour of the Scholastics Art Show and the Chemung Valley History Museum for tours of two of their main exhibitions. The Scholastics Art Show has a long history at the Arnot Art Museum and students learned how many well-known artists got their start through this competition – some right here in Elmira. Because the artwork on display is created by people just a few years older than the students themselves, children are amazed and inspired. Comparisons are made between scholastics art and the art they remembered from the picture gallery or by the Hudson River School artists they saw in November. By this time, students are beginning to acquire some fluency in the language used in the analysis and interpretation of visual art. This tour includes hands-on activities created by museum educators.

At the Chemung Valley History Museum, students immerse themselves in a stimulating environment to learn about life in the past. They complete “exhibit encounter” packets as they move through museum exhibits focusing on two local celebrities, Mark Twain and Floyd Woodhull.

In April representatives from the Cornell Cooperative Extension - Antoinette Gardner and visit the classroom introducing students to the dirty job of keeping water clean. Students will be introduced to the water cycle and asked to ponder why water is so important. Emphasis will be on conservation and students become more conscientious about the water we all consume and pollute daily. Hands-on activities follow a school-yard hike.

In May, students will return to the Chemung River to observe seasonal changes and their impact on the environment. Students have honed writing skills and will learn what it means to be ‘adapted” to an area and/or certain environmental conditions. They will gain an idea of what an introduced species is and the effect that such species can have on natives. Concepts of adaptability will be addressed and students will be asked to reflect on the implications of environmental change as it relates to the life and health of organisms adapted to a given ecosystem.

Also in May, The Arnot Art Museum will sponsor a Riverfest featuring the arts and crafts of regional artists. Students who had participated in the Chemung River School Project will have work they created throughout the year on display at the Arnot Art Museum and the Chemung Valley History Museum for a wonderful culmination to an exciting year inside and outside the classroom.

As always, the Chemung River will continue to be the pivot around which the program revolves and the inspiration for these artists and naturalists. Preservation of the river and the waters of the world will continue to be part of the mission of CRSP. We at the Arnot Art Museum remain as dedicated as ever to educating young people about the Chemung River – and all areas of the curriculum – through the arts.

For more information, please contact:
Maria Driscoll McMahon,
Director of Education for the Chemung River School Project
607-330-5742 (home)
Arnot Art Museum
235 Lake StreetElmira, NY
14901
http://www.arnotartmuseum.org/

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Native American culture at the Chemung Valley History Museum

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