By Jen Henriquez
If you travel up the first set of stairs at school, you will not be able to resist stopping on the 2nd floor to admire the art installation hanging there. You may think you have been transported to the Brooklyn Museum for a minute. On closer inspection, it is the work of the 2nd graders.
Jean-Louis Frenk, French art teacher, envisioned the project as a way for the students to connect to their first Unit of Inquiry: Let’s Work Together. The students worked equally, as individuals, to create the foundation for this collaborative process, planning for the final product and organizing themselves along the way.

This creative and practical exercise was intended to help students understand the development and production of common human endeavors. Students worked together, freely choosing the tasks and groups they participated in during the entire process.

Students drew and painted unique squares on many little pieces of aquarelle paper. Then they made holes in the corners of the colored mini-paintings and later connected them together with strands of thin wire. Finally, students put all of the pieces together creating a waving, majestic, and beautiful tapestry, reminiscent of the installations of El Anatsui, the famous contemporary African artist.

It is well worth the visit up the stairs at school to see this piece in person, along with the many other installations hanging right now.