Stokes Brings Global Art Exploration Back to Wayne Trace Local Schools

Through a generous grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and Fund for Teachers and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, Wayne Trace Art and STEAM teacher Angie Miesle Stokes spent four weeks traveling through six countries in Europe and East Asia on an investigation of the ways in which botanical imagery has been used in art and architecture. Through this comparative cultural examination of the historical symbolism in the use of plant life across two continents, she was able to make several key connections across time and place while studying a wide variety of artistic forms and media. This research is now being used to develop cross-curricular units that can be used in a variety of classroom settings, including Angie’s own classes at Wayne Trace.

Angie focused by selecting six key sites, three in Europe and three in Asia, to begin her exploration. While many people may overlook the simple use of an apple or lotus flowers, politicians, the religious, and royalty have often used paintings and sculptures of fruits and flowers as symbols of their power and authority. Through the hands of many architects and  artists, these symbols have made visual the purpose of these places, reminding visitors of the values of the people who have lived in those spaces over the centuries as well as being a demonstration of geography, resources, wealth, connections, and aesthetic tastes.

Angie looks forward to taking these specific examples, and many more from her summer fellowship, into the classroom as a way to enhance her students’ understanding of the form, function, materials, and historical context of art while inspiring them to think more deeply as they create their own works whether they are using traditional methods of drawing and painting in the studio or high tech visuals and sculptures the STEAM center.

These students will be sharing their work at both the high school’s Fall Fine Arts Festival and the district’s annual spring art show in addition to exhibiting at a number of regional shows throughout the school year.