Art That Speaks: The Power of the Artivist

Educator: Jennifer Grasso Moise, Visual Arts Educator

Cultural Partner: Oya Bangura, Co-Founder of Project MOVE, LLC and Founder/CEO of Oya Bangura Dance, Inc

School: Brentwood East Middle School

Grades: 8th

District: Brentwood Union Free School District

District NYSED link: https://data.nysed.gov/profile.php?instid=800000037066

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Summary: 

This PEACE partnership, co-designed and implemented with Visual Art Educator,  Jennifer Grasso-Moise and Cultural Teaching Artist, Oya Bangura, engaged 8th-grade students in a culturally responsive, interdisciplinary arts process centered on identity, voice, and civic expression. Through mixed media installation, movement-based storytelling, and QR-linked digital narratives, students developed and presented life-size symbolic works that communicated personal and global perspectives, positioning themselves as active “artivists.” Evidence of impact is reflected in students’ increased confidence, capacity for self-expression, and ability to connect individual experiences to broader social themes. The project demonstrates sustained efficacy beyond the residency period, with student work continuing to be exhibited across multiple community and national platforms, extending audience engagement and amplifying youth voice. This ongoing visibility supports long-term student empowerment, reinforcing the role of the arts as a vehicle for healing, advocacy, and meaningful participation in local and global conversations.

Rationale: Students had struggled with social norms and strove to be accepted while losing essential core ideas

Middle school students were navigating identity formation, peer pressure, and a growing awareness of social and global issues. Many struggled with balancing individuality and belonging, often silencing their authentic voices to fit perceived norms. Many faced that challenge with us in this project and voiced it and figured out how to manifest it through and in the work.

This project empowered students to: 

• Reclaim and honor their personal voice
• Explore identity through symbolism and storytelling
• Understand how art can function as advocacy, healing, and communication

Students explored how art can be a tool for self-expression, connection, and social change allowing
them to express what matters to them while recognizing shared human experiences across cultures.

What learning goals/standards did this meet?

Arts:

• Symbol systems, what does artwork mean vs how to “make” something
• Movement principles that are symbolic (healing) and cultural

Students:

• Understand symbolism as a visual language used to communicate ideas, emotions, and cultural meaning
• Explored how art functions beyond “making” as a tool for storytelling, healing, and advocacy
• Applied movement principles and visual metaphors to create symbolic and culturally responsive artwork
• Connected personal identity to global themes through artistic expression

CCCR: Strengthened pathways among different communities through shared storytelling and creative collaboration

• This project cultivated College, Career, and Civic Readiness by empowering students to research, create, present, and reflect through the lens of empathy and global citizenship.
• By merging art, technology, and activism, students learned to think critically, collaborated meaningfully, and communicated ideas clearly.
• Students developed transferable skills including visual communication, problem-solving, reflection, and audience awareness skills essential for success in higher education, future careers, and civic life.

CR-S: 

• We tapped into power and agency beyond stereotypes and traumas?
• Confronted  issues that can lead to labeling, stereotyping, or marginalization
• Explored how identity, culture, and lived experience influence personal voice and perspective
• Encouraged students to examine power, agency, and resilience beyond stereotypes and trauma
• Affirmed student identities while honoring cultural traditions, global perspectives, and collective humanity
• Created  space for student narratives that challenge assumptions and promote understanding

Outcomes:

Students’ learning has expanded as a result of this project because now they…

KNOW…  Key concepts of symbolism, visual metaphor, and movement principles as and to support narrative in art
That art can function as communication, healing, and advocacy, not just as a product
That artists have historically and globally used art to respond to social and cultural issues

UNDERSTAND…  How personal identity, culture, and lived experience influence artistic voice
How visual choices (pose, symbols, materials, composition) can communicate meaning
That shared human experiences connect individuals across cultures and communities
The role of artists as storytellers, change-makers, and community voices

ARE ABLE TO… Create life-size symbolic artwork that clearly communicated their personal or global message
Used movement, poetry, symbolism and visual language intentionally and expressed ideas and emotions
Articulated their message through visual, written, spoken, movement, frozen physical tableau and  or digital storytelling (QR-linked narrative)
Reflected on their own growth and the impact of their work on others
Engaged respectfully with diverse perspectives and stories