Global Artist Exchange:
Sparking Curiosity, Building Connections, and Broadening Horizons through Language, Art, and Technology
By Melanie Fidler
In the spring of 2024, I received a Faculty Initiative Curriculum Development Grant to develop a Global Artist Exchange Unit of Study for Omega boys, focusing on the work of Alexander Calder. Though I had considered taking on a Fulbright research grant or a teaching fellowship abroad, I decided instead to take fate into my own hands in order to make my dream of bringing global perspectives to my classroom a reality.
With Saint David’ s support and encouragement, I began investigating ways I could use art to bridge cultures and nurture creativity within my art classes. My teaching philosophy is to design art experiences with a global lens, incorporating arts and crafts from the various cultures I’ ve explored. As a passionate traveler to over 50 countries, with experience living and working abroad, I am always seeking ways to spark my students’ curiosity and broaden their horizons by providing a wider lens through which they can investigate the art and perspectives of other cultures firsthand.
In today’ s rapidly evolving educational landscape, technology is bridging gaps that once seemed insurmountable. Through this grant, I created a new Global Artist Exchange, partnering with Level-Up Village to connect our Omega boys with a school in South America. A combination of local art explorations and international asynchronous video exchanges enables students to collaborate across the globe, creating exciting new connections and expanding their worldviews.
The seven-week Omega global exchange journey began this spring with a visit to The Whitney Museum of American Art to view Alexander Calder’ s Circus on permanent display. Mesmerized by Calder’ s circus characters and the artist’ s use of mixed media, boys returned to school with new insights and inspiration. They not only learned about the life, methods, and artworks of the famous sculptor, but also embarked on their own artistic journey to create personal artwork informed by close looking and inquiry.
In the weeks that followed, boys created presentations on an artist and their own artwork, and they received similar videos from students in Argentina. We learned about the lives, school culture, and classrooms of our South American exchange partners, and about the local Argentinian artist they had used as inspiration to create their own artwork. Omega boys had the opportunity to respond, ask questions, and add their own unique commentary about what they saw and noticed, which we then sent in a video back to Argentina.
A few boys worked together to create a popcorn concession stand using cardboard, model magic, and pom poms. Another made his own monkey in a cage complete with miniature bananas. There were flying trapeze artists, clowns, an acrobat being thrown out of a cannon! During the video responses, boys wondered where the Argentinian students had recess, what they ate for snack, and why Lucila Manchado left out arms in her paintings. Our boys loved finding out how tropical their environment was, what they were learning about and how we both love pizza and hamburgers! Through such collaborations, the Global Artist Exchange not only celebrates diversity, but also acts as a catalyst for curiosity and a gateway to broader perspectives. This cultural dialogue encourages individuals to engage with other traditions, worldviews, and experiences they might otherwise never encounter. The integration of technology makes stories from multiple parts of the globe accessible and immersive.
In Sophrosyne, boys learn to express their thoughts and feelings as they examine ways that their experience is similar to and different from their peers in Latin America. The unit culminates with a special Omega Circus exhibit, in which the boys proudly display their original artwork.
A prominent goal of the Saint David’ s
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