A Gift to the Future."Imagine a group of kids with drawing boards and boxes of pastels going into local neighborhoods with their teacher on early Sunday mornings in the spring and fall. Imagine the determined and frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: looks on their faces as they struggle with the elements--heat, wind and insects, attempting to capture the soul of their community. Imagine a classroom of eighth through twelfth grade This article or section deals primarily with the United States and Canada and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. students laboring over tedious, precise drawings ... Much knowledge has been gained: layout, paste-up, lettering. The students learn; the teacher teaches; the history continues." So begins a student-written preface of a book dedicated to the historic architecture of Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, Kansas (KCK) is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County (WyCo); it is part of the "Unified Government"[2] which also includes the cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. . Students at the Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, an inner-city magnet school magnet school n. A public school offering a specialized curriculum, often with high academic standards, to a student body representing a cross section of the community. , feel this project emphasizes the common bond that ties the citizens of the community together. Documenting the appearance and history of Kansas The history of Kansas is rich with the lore of the American West. Located on the eastern edge of the Great Plains, the U.S. state of Kansas was the home of nomadic Native American tribes who hunted the vast herds of bison. City's environment began as a project to create a calendar. The students chose their favorite subjects from about one hundred photographs, then made pen-and-ink drawings for the calendar. That was in 1984 and the calendar sold out the first day. Since then, the calendar project has become an annual enterprise in which students compete to have their drawings chosen. The art in A Gift to the Future presents a compilation of the calendar work. Funding for the book was secured through the Kansas Arts Commission, the City of Kansas City, Kansas, and the Greater Kansas City Kansas City, two adjacent cities of the same name, one (1990 pop. 149,767), seat of Wyandotte co., NE Kansas (inc. 1859), the other (1990 pop. 435,146), Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties, NW Mo. (inc. 1850). Community Foundation and Affiliated Trusts. The Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Organized in 1857, the Institute conducts various activities and programs to support the profession and enhance its public image, including periodically awarding the AIA has honored the students' project with a reception with all drawings on display. Many feel that this project might become a model for other communities who wish to educate their citizens on the importance of historic preservation Historic preservation is the act of maintaining and repairing existing historic materials and the retention of a property's form as it has evolved over time. When considering the United States Department of Interior's interpretation: "Preservation calls for the existing form, . These student artists will one day be asked to make decisions on the fate of their environment. The quality of life and the future of the environment will depend on their judgment. The historic neighborhoods deserve thoughtful consideration. As one of the teenagers commented, "I never really looked at that building before I drew it. I just drove by." Kansas City is proud of its students' involvement with their community. Glen LeRoy, Kansas University Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, proclaimed the students' work as superb. "It's as good as I've seen. I cannot discern the difference between what they're doing and some of the work of fifth year architecture students I have." Harriet Bigham is the art teacher at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, Kansas City, Kansas. |
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