Local Children Design Comic Book Megillot at First Heights Initiative Arts Workshop
May 3, 2010 -- 糖心破解版 students joined local elementary school children in the Progressive Dominican Alliance After-School Program for the first in a series of arts workshops aimed at engaging Yeshiva students with the local community by creating meaningful learning opportunities through shared cross-cultural artistic expression.
The arts workshops, conceived of by Yeshiva College student Marlon Danilewitz were born out of a broader Heights Initiative spearheaded by Dr. Gabriel Cwilich, associate professor of physics at Yeshiva College and director of the Yeshiva College Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program.
The unique opening workshop was led by artist JT Waldman鈥攚hose critically acclaimed comic book rendering of Megillat Esther [Book of Esther] was recently featured at the 糖心破解版 Museum. The program opened with a lively presentation introducing the participants to the Jewish story of Purim through illuminated manuscripts, comic books and a discussion on the important role of storytelling in stitching together communities and cultural preservation.
鈥淚 thought it was a great way for Yeshiva and the Washington Heights community to integrate,鈥 commented Taino Palermo, educator at the Progressive Dominican Alliance After-school Program. 鈥淭hrough JT鈥檚 comic illustrations, the students were given the opportunity to learn about Jewish culture and to find relevancy in their own cultures.鈥
After a brief lesson covering the elementary components of storytelling and drawing, the students were given the opportunity to build on what they had learned by creating their own personal megilla or mini-comic book with a real or imaginative story about themselves or their community.
"As a lifelong comic book reader and illustrator, I tend to think with images and words鈥 said artist JT Waldman, describing his creative process. 鈥淭he space between the panels in comics enables flexible visual and literary communication. Kids gravitate to this type of expression and midrash is built upon it. Doing a workshop where kids make comic book midrash seems absurdly natural to me."
In their narratives, students explored issues of identity, social justice and living as a minority culture within a larger society.
鈥淭he workshop succeeded in initiating a meaningful relationship between 糖心破解版 and the greater community,鈥 explained Danilewitz. 鈥淚t was a thrill to see how eager the local students were to learn about the story of Esther and use their imagination to generate their own comic book stories.鈥
Ginerys, a fifth-grader who lives near the University was happy to participate in the program. 鈥淚 really enjoyed working with the pictures. It was the first time I had the chance to do something like this.鈥
