Kutztown Middle School and Kutztown University art students collaborated for “Adventures in the Land of Art,” offering an art experience with community senior citizens.
Kutztown Middle School and KU students gathered on Nov. 19 in the Trinity Lutheran Church for their second Intergenerational Gathering, inviting senior citizens to join them in creating artwork, enjoying refreshments, and sharing conversation.
The Kutztown Art Education students have collaborated with the middle school through “Adventures in the Land of Art,” an afterschool art program, for the past eight years.
Each semester offers middle-schoolers and KU students an opportunity to work together to share in bringing art to life in the community.
For the second year, the program incorporated senior citizens, or “honored citizens” as Kris Tuerk, middle school art teacher, calls them.
The idea arose from a course being taught by KU professor Dr. Carrie Nordlund. “Teaching Art in Alternative Settings” is a course that teaches students how to implement art education in outlets other than the typical school setting.
“We want KU students to realize that they can take art education in a different direction and by bringing art into home and other senior citizen communities,” said Teurk. “It’s not often that the different generational groups get to come together and talk to each other, so they are making art and sharing stories and memories while they do it.”
The KU students led the group in a series of Thanksgiving-related art activities, including paper turkeys and placemats to brainstorm things to be thankful for. Each person was also given green paper and instructed to cut out a leaf, writing on it one thing for which he or she was the most grateful.
The leaves were hung on small trees, and the turkeys were placed on the table to create one large, collaborative work of art.
While everyone created their pieces, they shared in conversation and enjoyed tea, snacks and other refreshments.
“It’s fun to interact with people who are older and younger than you,” said Jacob Turko, an eighth-grader at Kutztown Middle School. “I like that they tell their stories, and this is just really fun to do.”
Most of the middle school students invited “honored citizens” from their families.
Ruth Perkins, who was invited by granddaughter Zoe, was impressed with the interaction she witnessed.
“The kids are nicely engaged,” she said. “Their hands are going, their mouths are going… I think it’s a really fantastic thing they are doing here.”
Dr. Nordlund believes Thanksgiving is the perfect time to bring the group together.
“Thanksgiving may be difficult for some people, such as older adults and even for our Kutztown University students as they try to balance their lives outside the KU campus with the end of their courses,” she said. “We have the intergenerational group come together in hopes to ground us in what is valuable during this possibly busy or lonely time. The event helps us see outside ourselves.”
Dr. Nordlund says she normally takes a back seat in the facilitation of these gatherings.
This year, in particular, a junior Art Education major and early field student, Jake Schaub, was at the forefront, acting as a liaison between KU and the middle school.
“I was here last year, when Dr. Nordlund’s class was first starting,” he said. “It was a trial run. This year, they wanted someone to help be a go-between. I was really looking to learn how to do afterschool programs when I teamed up with Mrs. Teurk for early field.”
Schaub observed that the gathering went much like last year’s, with less students from the university assisting.
“The middle school students are so excited to be a part of this, and the KU students get to experience working with them,” he said.
To find out about upcoming events with “Adventures in the Land of Art” check out Kris Teurk’s faculty webpage, which is available at www.kasd.org, or email her at ktuerk@kasd.org.
