I would like to pass on to you the link to an article in yesterday’s Providence Journal about the University of the Middle East Project’s cross-cultural, collaborative art-making event that took place this past Wednesday under the theme of Sacred Spaces: Realizing a Global Community through Art and Collaboration. Twenty-two UME Alumni, educators from the Middle East, North Africa, US and Italy, as well as four US educators new to UME programs, and 60 children, mostly teens from the Rhode Island and Boston areas participated. Be sure to take a look at the picture gallery for familiar faces!
http://www.projo.com/ri/woonsocket/content/NO_WOONSOCKET_ROGER_WILLIAMS_ART_07-17-08_44A_v57.3da7d7e.html
Mark Cooper, Professor of Ceramics and Sculpture and Catherine Wong, Director of Urban Outreach at Boston College led the day’s activities with support from UME Staff and interns as well as Roger Williams staff and Boston College graduate students. Professor Cooper created the structure that was transformed by the participants into a magnificent sculpture embodying the two days of engagement between the UME educators and the children from several different organizations including the Rhode Island Indian Council, Cambridge Community Service’s Creative Arts Program, the MET School, Riverzedge, and the Providence Academy for International Studies.. Our alumni were amazing in the way that they took ownership over the event by helping lead some cross-cultural activities, painting with the kids, engaging deeply with them, and even jumping in to set-up and break-down after the day had closed. UME staff couldn’t have made it possible without everyone’s contributions.
We hope you will enjoy the article. As with many journalistic pieces, there are some important omissions and errors in fact that stand out starkly to those of us who have been intimately involved with the Collaborative Art Initiative and other UME programs; however, something of the essence of the collaboration was definitely captured by it. We’re happy to fill in the details for you!
