Students at Tecumseh Elementary School are putting the final touches on their Welcoming Syrian Refugee Art project with local artist, Larkyn Froese.
The project started on Human Rights Day on December 10th. Students initial focus on the right of all children to go to school, snowballed as they learned about the plight of Syrian refugees. A grant from Promoting a Culture of Peace for Children Society helped them to create peace art from this wooden suitcase that arrived in Canada in 1947 with a family starting a new chapter of their lives in Canada after World War II. Splatter painting reminiscent of Jackson Pollock represents difference people coming together to create a thing of beauty. Flags from the students country of origin and welcome messages adorn the other surfaces.
This art was part of a larger project that also included writing and participation in a United Way Welcoming Luncheon for Syrian refugees.