Costa Rica Art

New York School Fest Celebrates All Things Costa Rica
By Pat Kinney

MORAVIA (New York) - Millard Fillmore Elementary School's Costa Rica Festival today will celebrate biodiversity, Costa Rican culture and history and the effects of our choices on our world economy and environment.

The public is invited to the event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the school. There will be two performances of Jan Brett's "The Umbrella," as well as Latin American dancing, at 9:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. in the cafeteria.

Throughout the day, second- and fifth-grade students will have displays and performances in their classrooms and in the hallways featuring the various ways they've explored Costa Rica.

Second-grade students have explored a unique Central American art form called molas. Each student created their own mola, using animal motifs found in Costa Rica. Students also created three-dimensional paper masks that explore the various adaptations of Costa Rica birds.

Second-graders have also been learning about the impact that non-sustainable choices have had on the rainforest of Costa Rica, creating displays that show the effects of damaging choices in land and water management on animals and the land.

Fifth-grade students in Trish Genson's class - who have been studying Costa Rican myths, fairy tales and fables - will perform two Costa Rican stories - "When Woman Becomes the Sea" and "The Sleeping Bread."

Jim VanArsdale's fifth-graders have been working with the school's stage band and teacher Chris Little to highlight the history of Costa Rican music, showing how the sounds and rhythms are present in our pop music today.

Jeff Porter's fifth-grade students researched pre-Columbian weapons and warfare, and they will explain what weapons that were used then. The class will also model costumes they have made and serve samples of typical Costa Rican food.

The Costa Rica project has been enriched by the talents of Holly Adams, a teaching theater artist, who has worked with the school for eight years on a variety of Arts in Education projects. Another guest artist, Jorge Cuevas, a teaching Latin American dance and music artist, helped the students learn more about the culture of Costa Rica.

The project was supported by an ArtStart Grant through Partners for Arts Education, the Millard Fillmore Elementary Student Council, the McDonald's Corp. through a MAC grant and Moravia Central School.

For more information about the June 10 event, contact the school at (315) 497-2670.