Dia de los Muertos Reflection
The Cultural Connections project was difficult in many ways. This was our first project where all of our classes were completely involved in so balancing all of the classes was challenging. In English we were writing short stories and odes, in history we were learning about Mayan/Aztec history and building our shoebox ofrendas, in Spanish we made Spanish-translated poems, and in math we learned about dilations which went hand in hand with the mural we painted in art. I wouldn’t say this was an extremely difficult project but, in comparison to the projects we did last year and in the beginning of this year, this project was difficult enough to keep everyone busy all the time.
Despite how busy this project kept me, I enjoyed a lot about it. For starters, it was our first project that had a public exhibition. We took our shoebox ofrendas to the Dia De Los Muertos festival at the San Luis Rey Mission and showed off our work at our booth. Another thing I really liked was how the math and art portion of this project worked together. Dilating all of the pieces we created for our own Village Fiesta to make one giant mural to be hung in the 10th grade hall was a really unique way to incorporate math and art together. I also liked the shoeboxes themselves. Everyone picked someone who had passed away to make an offering to and they all came out really nicely. Not only did everyone’s shoeboxes come out nicely but our second exhibition at the school was beautiful. Kids from elementary school to the juniors and seniors in our high school all complemented our well put together exhibition.
Throughout this project, there were lots of opportunities to give and receive really good feedback and critique. For example, before our exhibition at school we had to sit down and review as many ofrendas in a certain amount of time as we could. Not only did this allow us the chance to kind of sit down and actually look at our classmates work and give kind, specific, and helpful critique, it also allowed us to receive said good feedback. A lot of the feedback that I got or a lot that I saw being given was just stylistic things that needed to be changed (i.e too much hot glue in one place or not enough flowers) or about things that needed to be added like candles or food. We also got a lot of critique on each writing piece we did and were allowed a similar critique session.
Now that we’re wrapping this project up, I believe I deserve an A. Throughout the duration of this project, I was on task, I finished my work, and I helped out whenever needed. I attended the exhibition and helped out there and I put massive amounts of time into the mural in art. Not only that but I contributed to the original scaling and other mathematics that was required to dilate the art piece. All in all, I think I put in a lot of effort into this project and I think an A would reflect that really well.
This project, on it’s own, was really well thought out and really well put together. I can’t think of anything that I’d change or add.
Despite how busy this project kept me, I enjoyed a lot about it. For starters, it was our first project that had a public exhibition. We took our shoebox ofrendas to the Dia De Los Muertos festival at the San Luis Rey Mission and showed off our work at our booth. Another thing I really liked was how the math and art portion of this project worked together. Dilating all of the pieces we created for our own Village Fiesta to make one giant mural to be hung in the 10th grade hall was a really unique way to incorporate math and art together. I also liked the shoeboxes themselves. Everyone picked someone who had passed away to make an offering to and they all came out really nicely. Not only did everyone’s shoeboxes come out nicely but our second exhibition at the school was beautiful. Kids from elementary school to the juniors and seniors in our high school all complemented our well put together exhibition.
Throughout this project, there were lots of opportunities to give and receive really good feedback and critique. For example, before our exhibition at school we had to sit down and review as many ofrendas in a certain amount of time as we could. Not only did this allow us the chance to kind of sit down and actually look at our classmates work and give kind, specific, and helpful critique, it also allowed us to receive said good feedback. A lot of the feedback that I got or a lot that I saw being given was just stylistic things that needed to be changed (i.e too much hot glue in one place or not enough flowers) or about things that needed to be added like candles or food. We also got a lot of critique on each writing piece we did and were allowed a similar critique session.
Now that we’re wrapping this project up, I believe I deserve an A. Throughout the duration of this project, I was on task, I finished my work, and I helped out whenever needed. I attended the exhibition and helped out there and I put massive amounts of time into the mural in art. Not only that but I contributed to the original scaling and other mathematics that was required to dilate the art piece. All in all, I think I put in a lot of effort into this project and I think an A would reflect that really well.
This project, on it’s own, was really well thought out and really well put together. I can’t think of anything that I’d change or add.
Artist Statement
I dedicated my ofrenda to my great grandpa Jimmy. My grandpa was special to me because we did everything together. We danced together, we cooked together, and we gardened together. He was born in California and grew up working the fields. Then, when he got older he was a sailor, served in WWII, and still came home to his wife, Lou, and his two sons. He loved gardening with his wife and dancing to songs, usually by Johnny Cash, with all his grandchildren. I chose him because I loved, and still love him, very much. He would always call me little nicknames and he wasn’t afraid to admit that I was his favorite. Before his passing we moved across a few states to take care of him in his home and, even though his memory was fading, he still remembered me and my mom. Some key items I’ve included in my ofrenda are roses, because he loved gardening, JOHNNY CASH spelled out, because that was one of his favorites, if not his favorite, artist, and a fishnet and fish bait because he enjoyed activities like fishing and hunting. I also added paper anchors to symbolize his time served as a sailor. In the front is his picture, looking “sharp”.