Humanities students are finishing their Creative Representation Projects on Thursday, an assignment that pushes students to explore the question: Can Art Amend History?

“Every student researched a different aspect of history that is less commonly understood, and now they are creating art to try and amend history to expose other people to the knowledge that they gained through their research,” humanities teacher Sarah Wiseman said. “The humanities curriculum is all about creating connections between disciplines and creating a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. This is giving students a chance to merge their writing skills from english and their knowledge from history, and then exploring that in a way that is more creative and meaningful.”

For sophomore Stephany Swartz, that meant exploring the cultural assimilation of West African natives during French colonization. 

“West Africa stood out to me as a large group of people that didn’t have a voice when it came to staying as their own people and culture,” Swartz said. “I put this topic into my art by revealing how the French expanded their culture on the Africans, which formed high and low social classes. The feelings of those left with nothing to gain from the French is perceived through the more hidden face on the right side of the portrait. The color tones and facial expressions of the face demonstrates a melancholic feeling to show how upset they were and how they had no say regarding their new lifestyle. Those of higher class can be represented by the main face of the piece. That face shows more of a satisfied and proud feeling of what it was life for them to benefit from French cultural inheritance.”

Due to social distancing requirements, students will not have the ability to present in class this year. Instead, all student projects will be featured in a collaborative website shared over email and Twitter. 

“I chose the topic of the Maori people, who were the indigenous people in New Zealand,” freshman Aditi Darodkar said. “I incorporated Chinese art, specifically from the Summer Palace, into my project. I thought this was an appropriate theme because I wanted to tell a story about the Maori people’s struggle. My artwork, The Wheel of Dispute, slowly shows the four parts of European colonization in New Zealand. The first panel shows discovery, the second shows destruction, the third shows defense and the fourth shows defeat.”