Designing and Pitching Public Art

 

History Challenge

(Community Engagement)

 

Submission Due Date: April 7, 2023

Designed for Middle and High Schools

 

Table of Contents

·      The Challenge

·      Assumptions and Logistics

·      Process

·      Meridian Support Resources

·      Presentation of Learning

·      Evaluation Rubric

·      Essential Questions

·      Student Proficiencies

·      Curricular Correlations – C3 Framework and Common Core (RI7, W2, W3, W7, SL1, SL5, RH2, RH7)

Range of Activities

·      Historical Research and Community Polling /Interviewing

·      Primary And Secondary Source Data Analysis

·      Visual Conceptualization of Subjective and Objective Research

·      Script Writing to Persuade

·      Digital Literacy Skills – Video – Pre-production, Production and Post-production

·      Human Skills: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Presentational Skills

 

The Challenge

Create a pitch film to convince the local school board to install a new work(s) of public art that will cost $25,000.  The public art should be designed to reflect the character and identity of your school and be significant (even inspiring) to the students, faculty, and community. You are attempting to bring something interesting, evocative, stimulating, thoughtful, inspiring, unique, and meaningful to the citizenry of your region.

This Challenge begins with research about:

  • What the community wants. How will the artwork intersect with the community and how will the community feel about the artwork? And by ‘community’ we mean both the school community and the larger town/neighborhood/city. But your primary audience are those attending your school.
  • What the Administration wants. Be sure to explore any perceived issues that they may have with the work (think in terms of safety).
  • What kind of ‘public art’ might work in a school setting and where this work should be displayed.

The Challenge continues with exploration. What is art designed for impact? How is public art different from private art?

The design needs to reflect at least two different elements of the history or character of your school and your team must include at least one interview in the pitch. The design cannot include or make a reference to the school’s mascot.

Deliverables include:

  • Pitch Video (this is the only Meridian Stories deliverable)
  • Research Summary (at teacher’s discretion)
  • First Draft Script (at teacher’s discretion)
  • Public Art Design (at teacher’s discretion)

 

 

Assumptions and Logistics

  • Time Frame – We recommend that this digital storytelling project takes place inside of a three to four-week time frame.
  • Length – All Meridian Stories submissions should be under 4 minutes in length, unless otherwise specified.
  • Slate – All digital storytelling projects must begin with a slate that provides:
  1. the title of the piece;
  2. the name of the school submitting;
  3. the wording ‘Permission Granted’ which gives Meridian Stories the right to a) publicly display the submission in question on, as linked from, related to or in support of Meridian Stories digital media; and b) use or reference it for educational purposes only, in any and all media; and
  4. We strongly recommend that students do not put their last names on the piece either at the start or finish, during the credits.
  • Submissions – Keep in mind that each school can only submit three submissions per Competition (so while the entire class can participate in any given Challenge, only three can be submitted to Meridian Stories for Mentor review and scoring).
  • Teacher Reviews – All reviews by the teacher are at the discretion of the teacher and all suggested paper deliverables are due only to the teacher. The only deliverable to Meridian Stories is the digital storytelling project.

Teacher’s Role and Technology Integrator – While it is helpful to have a Technology Integrator involved, they are not usually necessary: the students already know how to produce the digital storytelling project. And if they don’t, part of their challenge is to figure it out. They will! The teacher’s primary function in these Challenges is to guide the students as they engage with the content.  You don’t need to know editing, sound design, shooting or storyboarding: you just need to know your content area, while assisting them with time management issues. See the Teachers Rolesection of the site for further ideas about classroom guidance.

 

Digital Rules/Literacy – We strongly recommend that all students follow the rules of Digital Citizenry in their proper usage and/or citation of images, music and text taken from other sources. This recommendation includes producing a citations page at the end of your entry, if applicable. See the Digital Rules area in the Meridian Stories Digital Resource Center section of the site for guidance.

  • Location – Try not to shoot in a classroom at your school. The classroom, no matter how you dress it up, looks like a classroom and can negatively impact the digital story you are trying to tell.
  • Collaboration – We strongly recommend that students work in teams of 3-4: part of the educational value is around building collaborative skill sets. But students may work individually.

Process

  • Below is a suggested breakdown for the students’ work.

 

During Phase One, student teams will:

  • Informally poll, survey, or interview key members in your school community. This research needs to include both administrators/faculty and students. The goal is to explore school identity and artistic ideas. Parents and other concerned citizens can be included. (Keep doing this all through Phase I. This is both your brainstorm phase and your data collection phase.)
    • We recommend that you record select moments in your research efforts: this footage may be useful in your final pitch video.
  • Research the history of your school. What are some of the key stories or events that make up the history of your school, and by extension, your community? Then select two that your team believes are defining moments and begin consideration of how you would want those stories/events represented visually.
  • Explore other works of public art in the community. Are these works appreciated or dismissed? Additionally, search online for some examples of public art from around the world that could serve as inspiration for your team. The idea is to build an understanding of what ‘public art’ is and can be and which works inspire you as a team. Murals? Sculpture? Designed Plaques? Something functional – a table or bench – but is designed and visually engaging?
  • Turn your attention to the logistics. Explore viable locations for this public work of art. Where in the school could this work of public art reside? Inside or outside? What spaces are actually available? Is your team looking to create a permanent display of art or a temporary work? Will the work be touchable? These decisions will have repercussions on the places that are available.
  • Informally brainstorm ideas with the information that you have gathered about your proposed design. This is just the first round of brainstorming. However, keep in mind this important idea: art, whether public or private, is also personal. Have your team examine the ideas that you want reflected in the final design. The final project should reflect a balanced mix of public need, public desire, and personal vision.
    • Consider what materials will be used for the artwork. Will the materials add significance to the work? For example, is your community or school affiliated with or defined by local building materials or other natural products?
    • Also keep in mind the budget: $25,000. What can and cannot be done for this amount?
  • Once you have an initial sense of the public art project you want to propose, decide on a basic outline of visual shots that you will need to tell your story; to create your pitch.
  • Finalize your interviews with school and community members for their input.

During Phase Two, student teams will:

  • Gather, organize, and analyze your research data. What does it say should be informing your design? Where does it say this project should be installed?
    • Teacher’s Option: Research Summary – Teachers may require that their teams present a summary of their research – formal or informal – reflecting opinions and ideas from the community.
  • Brainstorm your design one more time and decide on a basic approach. When deciding on the approach be sure to discuss issues of safety as it relates to your project.
  • Sketch out your design and consider re-visiting people to re-interview them about their reactions to your current design.
  • Create a summary budget of the costs of your design.
  • Solidify your video rundown. Determine a) what your story is and how you are going to present it visually; b) how you are going to represent the design itself (a hand drawing, a model, a graphic?); and c) your persuasive angle to convince the School Board of the merits of your project.
  • Draft your script. As you are doing so, keep in mind your audience. It is not an audience of your peers. It is an audience of school decision makers – community school board members and administration. How does this audience shape your presentation, visually and in the spoken word?
    • Teacher’s Option: First Draft Script – Teachers may require that their teams hand in the first draft of their persuasive video script.
  • Begin the final design of your public art project.
    • Teacher’s Option: Draft Design – Teachers may require that their teams hand in their proposed public art project t designs.

During Phase Three, student teams will:

  • Complete the design work on your public art project.
  • Screen and organize the footage you have shot documenting your process and prepare for the remainder of the shoot.
  • Pre-produce the remainder of the shoot:
  • Scout locations for shooting (if this is being shot on location).
  • Create costumes, props, and other set pieces, as needed.
  • Rehearse and time out the whole process. Cut and revise the script as necessary.
  • Prepare the logistics for the remaining shoot;
  • Shoot the video.
  • Edit the video, adding stills and graphics as desired.
  • Post-produce the video, adding music and sound effects as desired.

Meridian Support Resources

Meridian Stories provides two forms of support for the student teams.

1.    Media Innovators and Artists – This is a series of three-to-four-minute videos featuring artists and innovative professionals who offer important advice, specifically for Meridian Stories, in the areas of creativity and production.

2.    Meridian Resources – These are short documents that offer student teams a few key tips in the areas of creativity and production.

 

Recommended review, as a team, for this Challenge include:

Media Innovators and Artists Meridian Resources
Photography – Michael Kolster

 

Making Documentaries – Margaret Heffernan

 

Interviewing Techniques – Tom Pierce

 

Editing – Tom Pierce

Creative Brainstorming Techniques

 

Conducting an Interview

 

Time Management

 

Scratch, GeoGebra, and Sketch Up

 

Evaluation Rubric – Designing and Pitching Public Art

CONTENT COMMAND
Criteria 1 – 10
Historical Content The historical content is presented clearly and compellingly
Community Research The research from the community is substantive and persuasive
School’s Character and identity The final set of ideas about the school’s character and identity are thoughtful and well documented

STORYTELLING COMMAND
Criteria 1 – 10
Public Art Design The Public Art Design effectively and creatively communicates the ideas on which it is premised
Interview(s) The interview enhances the presentation and helps validate the narrative’s strengths
Overall Narrative Clarity and Persuasiveness The narrative is presented clearly and compellingly, and the pitch is persuasive
MEDIA COMMAND
Criteria 1 – 10
Mixed Visual Media The use of video, stills, graphics and/or text is engaging, visually interesting, and well matched to the goals of the pitch
Editing  The pitch is edited cleanly and effectively, resulting in an engaging digital storytelling experience
Sound Design The mix of music and sound greatly enhanced the goals of the pitch
HUMAN SKILLS COMMAND (teachers only)
Criteria 1-10
Collaborative Thinking The group demonstrated flexibility in making compromises and valued the contributions of each group member
Creativity and Innovation The group brainstormed many inventive ideas and was able to evaluate, refine and implement them effectively
Initiative and Self-Direction The group set attainable goals, worked independently, and managed their time effectively, demonstrating a disciplined commitment to the project

 

Essential Questions

  1. What is the best way to research attitudes and gather ideas from a community of adults and youth to yield clear direction and possibly consensus?
  2. How has information gathered from primary sources – your interviews – enhanced your understanding of your school? How is the information from these sources different from the information gathered from secondary sources?
  3. What is the best way to analyze, synthesize and utilize data that is predominantly qualitative and subjective?
  4. How do ideas – personal and public – get translated into a work of visual art that stays faithful to those ideas and engages aesthetically? Where are the boundaries between artistic integrity, compromise, and pandering to public opinion?
  5. What do you know about the history of your school and community and how does a work of art add meaning to your community and to your understanding of that community?
  6. How has immersion in the creation of original content and the production of digital media designed to persuade – exercising one’s creativity, critical thinking, and digital literacy skills – deepened the overall educational experience?
  7. How has working on a team – practicing one’s collaborative skills – changed the learning experience?

Student Proficiencies

  1. The student will participate in a variety of research methods for the purposes of culling community attitudes and ideas about a given topic.
  2. The student will understand how combining primary and secondary sources can help one to reach a more complex and nuanced understanding of the topic at hand.
  3. The student will learn how to synthesize information and data from a range of resources into a clear set of guidelines or conclusions.
  4. The student will experience the challenges of conceptualizing a work of art that is intended to communicate specific ideas that are premised on a balance of public and personal needs.
  5. The student will understand more about the history and character of their school and community.
    1. The student will understand the significant relationship that can exist between a work of art and the community to which it refers.
  6. The student will utilize key Human Skills, with a focus on creativity, critical thinking, and digital literacy, in their process of creating a persuasive digital story for a specific audience.
  7. The student will have an increased awareness of the challenges and rewards of team collaboration. Collaboration – the ability to work with others – is considered one of the most important Human Skills to develop in students as they prepare for life after secondary school.

Curricular Correlations

The Designing and Pitching Public Art Challenge addresses a range of curricular objectives that have been articulated by two nationally recognized sources:

  1. The Common Core Curricular Standards – English Language Arts; and
  2. The C3 Framework for Social Studies, as outlined by National Council of Social Studies (NCSS).

 

Below please find the standards that are addressed, either wholly or in part.

Common Core Curricular Standards – English Language Arts

  5th Grade 8th Grade 9th – 10th Grade 11th – 12th Grade
RI7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

 

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea

 

Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem

 

W2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

 

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
W3

 

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
W7

 

Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

 

Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

 

Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
SL1

 

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

 

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

 

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
SL5

 

Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

 

Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.

 

Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
L3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

 

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

 

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
RH2 N/A Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

 

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

 

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

 

RH7 N/A Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

 

Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

 

Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

C3 Framework for Social Studies

6th – 8th Grade 9th – 12th Grade
D2.Civ.1.6-8. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of citizens, political

parties, interest groups, and the media in a variety of governmental and nongovernmental contexts.

D2.Civ.1.9-12. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
D2.Civ.2.6-8. Explain specific roles played by citizens (such as voters, jurors, taxpayers, members of the armed

forces, petitioners, protesters, and office-holders).

D2.Civ.2.9-12. Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention

to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans’ participation over time, and

alternative models from other countries, past and present.

D2.Civ.7.6-8. Apply civic virtues and democratic principles in school and community settings.. D2.Civ.7.9-12. Apply civic virtues and democratic principles when working with

others.

D2.Civ.10.6-8. Explain the relevance of personal interests and perspectives,

civic virtues, and democratic

principles when people address issues and problems in government and civil society.

D2.Civ.10.9-12. Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and

perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional

rights, and human rights.

D2.Civ.11.6-8. Differentiate among procedures for making decisions in the classroom, school, civil society,

and local, state, and national

government in terms of how civic purposes are intended.

D2.Civ.11.9-12. Evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
D2.Civ.13.6-8. Analyze the purposes, implementation, and consequences of public policies in multiple settings. D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.