Pamela Olson Artist
Artsbridge Scholar Program
The goal of the Artsbridge Scholar Program was to work with a host teacher to develop a program to integrate the visual arts with other disciplines. I created, planned and conducted visual arts workshops at University Hills in the Boulder Valley school district. I had the pleasure of working with Mona Estrada who was teaching her class about various Nobel Laureates and at this time was focusing on the Dali Lama. We wanted to integrate this and I proposed the idea for the class to create a sand mandala. During my time with the students I taught various historical and cultural art traditions through the exploration and application of materials, techniques and processes essential to the visual arts.
The final outcome of the project with the 2nd & 3rd graders is this 8’ Sand Painting Mandala. Students submitted a design and they all voted,(teaching them about democracy). The final design chosen was a globe design with a peace sign through it, surrounded by the sun’s rays. Students created their individual permanent 10” mandala that was set into the red sand perimeter.
All students participated in creating the mandala, designing it and the coloring and the pouring of the sand. We held an opening ceremony for all school students, parents, teachers and friends to attend. The students had previously written a Haiku for their individual mandala and they read it. They also learned sign language and they sang & signed the song “Imagine” by John Lennon at this opening.
Two weeks later, we held a closing ceremony for the sand mandala and all students swept the sand onto trays . We all then went out to the playground and each student made a wish for others as they tossed the colored sand onto the playground. Most students wished for peace in the world, for neighbors to be nicer to each other and for all to share and to laugh and to love.
My Project was awarded as the ‘Best Visual Arts Project’ in Colorado for the Artsbridge Program and this is one of the most rewarding projects I have ever led.
Studio: (303) 859-2649 pamela@pamelaolsonartist.com