Favela Project

For the last two art classes, 8th graders have begun work on their individual house that will become a part of a larger installation of all of the 8th grade houses to build one large favela.  The favela's are made out of all found materials, just like a lot of the actual favela's in Brazil are made out of.

To make the project even more dynamic, we are working closely with artist, Eric Cremers, who lives all the way across the world on the small dutch island of Bonaire.  His current work is based on creating large favela works out of found materials.  More about his work can be found at www.ericcremers.exto.org.  We have created a dialogue by sending Mr. Cremers weekly emails with questions that the students have about a process, their process, his artwork, etc.  Each week we have been reading his email response and replying with new questions for him.  It has been an amazing experience to say the least to have an internationally known artist acting as a mentor to all of our 8th grade students.

The enthusiasm in the classroom has been palpable the past few weeks as the students have been building their houses.  The creativity and engineering that the students are doing is remarkable.

Here are some pictures and videos of the work the students have been doing.  We have a lot more work to do.  Enjoy!

Response from Mr. Cremers

Response from Mr. Cremers

Response from Mr. Cremers