China, India culture, art LBMS program
From our weekly issue dated May 7, 2008
LTA, the Illinois River Valley Arts Council (IRVAC) Learning Through Art program, brought dragons and mandalas to sixth-graders at Lorna Byrne Middle School in Cave Junction on Tuesday, April 8.
The sixth-graders are learning about China and India as part of their cultural studies. Under the guidance of IRVAC’s Learning Through Arts program, they made Chinese “moveable” dragons with accordion-folded bodies, then elaborately decorated them with scales and whiskers.
The students also learned that dragons play an important role in Chinese mythology. In fact, Chinese people regard themselves as descendants of the dragon.
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According to this myth, whose unknown origin pre-dates written history, dragons were benevolent creatures. They lived in rivers, lakes and pools, and rose in great clouds of mist to promote and control rainfall and the land which yielded crops.
Depicted as wise, beautiful and very benign creatures that protect the people, the mythical Chinese dragon also was composed of nine different animals; and, unlike other dragons of legend, did not have wings.
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During its India workshop, LTA offered students the opportunity to create a “unity mandala quilt.” Mandalas are thought to be a healing medium for the soul, encompassing the merging of soul, body and spirit. Uncovering creativity, they are often used as tools for introspection, healing and meditation, allowing people to master life's every day stresses, become calm and gain trust and composure.
Some of the world’s most famous mandalas have been created by Tibetan monks during periods of days or weeks. Tibetan monks create their mandalas with sand and the dust of precious stones, painstakingly placing millions of grains of sand in a traditional method that includes geometric shapes and many ancient spiritual symbols.
The sixth-graders colored a variety of mandalas, then traded half of each with another student. They then cut the mandalas into eight pieces, resulting in “new” mandalas which were mounted on squares of colored construction paper, and “pieced” together like a quilt.
