ARTIST STATEMENT
What makes a “place” important to us? When does a “place” become more than a location on a map? How can you describe it? When does it become home? In “Portrait of Place,” Salt Lake Art Academy’s 6th-8th grade visual arts students are exploring the ways humans confer meaning on places -- our cityscape, our natural world, and our planet.
For the “Portrait of Place” project, students studied the work of Utah artist, Mark England and American artist, Seonna Hong. Salt Lake Arts Academy students then are exploring human’s relationships with “place” -- in the home, in our city, and on our planet. Our SLArts students were tasked with researching and choosing materials to evoke a feeling, idea or opinion about “place.” Using various materials, students created collages that are examples of the many layers of meaning we create, and find, when we search for our place in the world.
ARTIST BIO
Salt Lake Arts Academy (SLArts) is a public charter school for Grades 5 through 8 in downtown Salt Lake City. Students at SLArts enjoy a rigorous academic curriculum, enriched by daily arts education in Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Art. The pieces in this show were created by students under the direction of visual arts teacher, Elizabeth Wilson.
Our diverse student body comes to SLArts from throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Students are admitted to Salt Lake Arts Academy through an admissions lottery. No special “talent” is required to attend our school, and we serve a wide range of learners. We believe that daily arts experiences build creative habits of mind that lead to student success in high school and beyond.
