Imaginary Friends was an afterschool art program I taught for a Vancouver School Board elementary school.
The program was intended to teach basic ideas of character, narrative and performance to young children through both movement and visual arts activities. We considered various ways to establish and reveal character, as well as ways to tell stories that do not rely on language. The class was a combination of visual art projects (making masks and simple books) and performance projects (what sounds does your character make? How do you move when you are happy/sad/angry?). We also explored moving and artmaking in more abstract ways, focussing on the engagement with the media themselves. Each class incorporated some work on an individual project and some collaborative work whether in an interactive game or a group project.
The gallery contains images of the children’s work from the class, particularly in a bookbinding and storytelling assignment, as well as their puppets for the final group performance.
