On February 27, 2018, Kate Hatch organized an art enrichment workshop for area art teachers. This workshop was facilitated by Cambridge Art Teacher, Janice Howell, and Minden High School Art Teacher, Chris Dolan. This day was designed for the artist/educator teaching kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Janice taught the group about the art of Adinkra printmaking. Adinkra cloth is a hand-printed fabric made in Ghana. Developed by the Ashanti people, Adinkra cloths were traditionally made for royalty to wear at religious ceremonies. Through the years, people have also decorated the cloths to tell a story or to express their thoughts or feelings. Adinkra cloth is stamped and patterned with traditional Ashanti symbols. Each symbol has its own meaning. People in Ghana decorate the cloth by using a black dye made of bark. This dye is called Adinkera aduru, and it is what gives the cloth its name. Using the dye, they draw lines on the cloth to divide it into squares. Next, they carve symbols into calabash gourds, press the gourds into the dye, and stamp the symbols onto the fabric.
Chris taught the group about printmaking. Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.
In addition to learning these art techniques, the art teachers were also able to collaborate and share other ideas that they were able to take back to their individual schools.
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