“Oh, look at this one!” says Caden Ojibway to his older brother, Coye, as they go from place to place looking at the eye-catching pictures hanging throughout Briggs Public Library.
With a video
The paintings and drawings make up the fifteenth annual Art Exchange Exhibit, which will be on display until March 26, 2011. The artwork was done by elementary and middle school students in Konan-Shi, Japan and St. Johns, Michigan; it is an outgrowth of the Friendship City relationship that St. Johns and Konan established in 1994.
Michigan and Shiga, a prefecture (or state) in Japan, formed a Sister State Relationship in 1968 under Governor Romney. The strong tie between the two states is their closeness to special bodies of water. Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan, and Shiga Prefecture surrounds the lake; while Michigan is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes. Since 1968, many students, teachers, citizens and officials have enjoyed traveling between Shiga and Michigan.
The opening reception for the cross-cultural art display was held on March 1, 2011. It featured a group of third- and fourth-grade students from Riley and East Olive, singing traditional Japanese folk songs under the direction of Ms. Shirley Anne Ries, vocal music teacher for St. Johns Public Schools. Their voices were beautiful, the Japanese words were pronounced well, and the students included some musical instruments and danced.
The student artists come from the six public elementary schools and St. Joseph School, the St. Johns Middle School, and the students from similar schools in Konan. Art teachers Ms. Brearly, Ms. DenHerder and Mr. Fromson select work from the students to be in this exhibit. After it is taken down at Briggs, it will be packed and sent to Konan for display in their public library.
A very special part of this year’s exhibit is a quilt made by students of Ms. DenHerder. It is made up of rectangles of material on which 24 students each painted their self-portrait. The students are giving the quilt to the people of Konan, who will be very happy to receive it. They are intrigued by the variety of color combinations of hair, eyes and skin we have in America. The quilt is hanging across from the library’s desk, near the copy machine.
The exhibit is made possible through a collaboration of the St. Johns-Konan Friendship Society, Briggs Public Library, St. Johns Public Schools, Konan-Shi in Japan, the Clinton County Arts Council and the City of St. Johns. Students from the Ovid-Elsie High School National Art Honor Society spent several hours on Saturday, February 26, helping hang the art.
The Friendship Society is deeply grateful to them and to Big Boy Restaurant of St. Johns and Biggby Coffee for helping furnish refreshments at the reception.
More pictures of the event can be found at: http://mishigan.blogspot.com and information about the Michigan-Shiga Sister State activities can be found at www.mishiga.com; from there a person can click on St. Johns to read more about the St. Johns – Konan Friendship City relationship.