By April M. Wilkinson

For The Beachcomber

Third-graders at Chautauqua Elementary School have created a new public artwork to welcome students, staff and visitors with messages of inclusivity and belonging.

Guided by island artist Britt Freda, students installed painted rocks at the entrance to the school on Cemetery Road. Each rock was hand-decorated with original designs to promote justice, equality, diversity, safety, empathy and kindness.

A public unveiling of the exhibit, titled “BE CURIOUS: compassion and kindness rocks!” was held earlier this month so the community could witness the students’ work and add their own rocks.

“It just makes me feel happy,” said student Lauren Winjum, who smiled as she viewed the collection. The installation came together over multiple days as students from different classes contributed their rocks.

During Freda’s residency at Chautauqua — part of the Vashon Artists in Schools (VAIS) program — she visited all five third-grade classes both in-person and remotely, every week for more than a month to discuss the complex intersections of racial justice, equity, safety, empathy and activism through art while students painted.

According to teacher Margie Butcher, the project was originally oriented through written poems and stories by authors — but soon shifted to focus on stories from classmates and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community members.

“We listened to each other’s stories,” said Freda.“Through sharing of our stories, we learned about words like empathy, discrimination, acceptance and kindness, about justice and equity or an absence of.”

Those ongoing conversations wound their way into the students’ art.

When placing her stones, student Amelia pointed out that the “random design” on one of her rocks “didn’t mix. It’s kind of like how people are all different.”

“Some people have some similarities but some people have some differences,” said student Mara Pederson, describing a rock with a series of blue dots encircling a larger yellow dot.

Student Dylan’s rocks included “a painting of a little bird because the rock was shaped like a bird.” When asked what the bird might represent, he replied, “Peace.”

Students’ participation was not limited to merely decorating their own rocks. They also had strong input into the overall presentation.

“The students, teachers and I collaborated on the design of the installation,” said Freda. “Originally, I’d envisioned the rocks as a cairn or stack of rocks. Then we realized, in a pile, some of the rocks would be at the bottom and not visible, and a very few rocks would be at the top. This wasn’t a design structure that evoked equity.”

Eventually, the students decided to arrange the rocks flat on the ground in a circular form with a heart-shaped center. The re-imagined design ensured that each person’s contributions could be seen and appreciated, and represents the importance of approaching each other with open, empathetic hearts.

Students also deepened their understanding of artistic concepts through practice and exploration.

“If I accidentally did something or experimented, I could just change it,” said student Scarlett Lanphear. “And now I really like it.”

“I like taking something from nature, painting it, then putting it back as a sculpture,” said student Liam Ball. “It’s sort of like how a butterfly starts as a larva, goes into a cocoon and comes out as a butterfly.”

This is Freda’s second project this year as part of VAIS, a partnership between Vashon Island School District and Vashon Center for the Arts for more than 30 years.

Teachers have high praise for the program.

“Inviting artists with different teaching styles and different learning goals benefits my students in many ways,” said teacher Erin Calhoun. “It introduces them to new perspectives and offers a variety of ways of expressing their ideas.”

This school year started with the relatively modest goal of only eight residencies due to the pandemic and what was, for many months, fully remote instruction. But as the year progressed, teachers, artists and VCA developed additional ideas, and eventually, there were 15 completed residencies across the district.

VAIS manager Stephanie Johnson Blomgren noted the distinctive institutional and personal commitments that help make the program a success.

“Pragmatically, VCA and VAIS commit to compensating artists in a competitive, real-world way. It’s an important piece to what we do,” she said. “But our island artists are the engine that makes it run.”

Students and the broader community have long reaped the rewards of the program.

“(VAIS) is an island jewel,” said Butcher, who has collaborated with artists on many projects in her classes over the years, including the orca mural in the Chautauqua lobby, another partnership with Freda. “For many kids, this is the favorite part of their entire year.”

Islanders can make their own contributions to the new artwork at any time.

Freda said she hopes people continue to add to the project and that it will help raise awareness on the island for many years to come.

“If you are looking for a crafty art project to do outside with friends this summer or for years to come as an-oh-so-Vashon-thing-to-do,” said Freda, “paint some rocks, share ideas of inclusion and welcoming support to all people, in any language and bring them to the ‘BE CURIOUS: compassion and kindness rocks!’ project.”

To read letters from two students who participated in the project, see page 6.

Third-grade student Juni A. displays one of her rocks for the BE CURIOUS exhibit. Juni mixed red and blue paints to create purple, which represents the beauty of different people living together (Courtesy Photo).