Drawn Together Art Show
Redwood City Public Library
1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City
May 25, 2008 to mid-June, 2008
Drawn Together is a unique collection of art produced by special education and general education students at five Redwood City schools. The students created art projects together and discovered how diversity results in a stronger, more beautiful world.
The project was developed and sponsored by SEPTAR, the Special Education PTA of Redwood City, with funding from a grant provided by the California State PTA. The goal was to create an inclusive art project where children could explore how bringing different abilities and skills to the table, literally, can create something that is far more interesting and beautiful than can be done by working alone.
The project was also inspired by the annual Inclusive Schools Week held around the nation to promote and celebrate inclusivity in our schools. Drawn Together is part of this ongoing effort to provide inclusive opportunities throughout the school year where children with different abilities can spend time together.
The Drawn Together project grouped children from Special Day Classes (SDC), which are classes comprised of children with special needs, and from general education classes to work collaboratively on a series of art projects. Students at Henry Ford, Hoover, Roosevelt, Selby Lane, and Taft schools participated.
While for the most part, the general education students provided assistance to the special education children, at Selby Lane, the opposite held true. Here the middle-school special education students were matched with a kindergarten class and enjoyed the chance to assist the younger children create vividly-colored mosaics while learning that pastels are different from the crayons they normally use.
At Taft school, the special education children already had assigned buddies, and the program was a chance for them to illustrate exactly how much they enjoy each other’s company with a series of paper collages entitled,” What we like to do when we are together."
Drawn Together was coordinated by SEPTAR board members who developed art projects that would illustrate the principal that diversity creates a more interesting world. The projects were also intended to give children the opportunity to apply that concept experientially; it was equally important that the children enjoyed each other’s company, felt proud of their work togehter, and came away looking forward to spending more time with each in the future.
We would like to thank the Redwood City School District; the participating teachers, students, and administrators of Henry Ford, Hoover, Roosevelt, Selby Lane, and Hoover Schools; and the California State PTA whose funding made this project possible.