Genoa Middle School art teacher Juls Rathje has taken a new approach to teaching perspective with her eighth-grade students thanks to a new project in partnership with the Arts Council of Westerville and Westerville Public Library.
As part of the project funded by the Ohio Arts Council, students sketched historic buildings throughout Westerville and created pages with a flap in the center that, when lifted, tells a story of an individual or character related to the building. Each page will be part of a book to showcase the city’s history.
With their drawings, Genoa students are applying lessons on perspective and how to add depth on a flat surface. With their stories, they are exploring perspectives in writing and taking on a voice of a person during that time in history, said Dr. Jan Fedorenko, who worked with Rathje on the project as an artist-in-residence.
“We’re not only looking at the technical skills in art, but also understanding the history and putting it into historical context,” said Fedorenko, a retired Westerville administrator.
The project provides students an opportunity to learn about Westerville history as well as discover the art of Columbus native Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. Her book, A Street Called Home, served as inspiration for their project.
Fedorenko kicked off the lesson by showing students historic pictures of familiar sites with interesting stories: a bowling alley that once stood where Java Central is located; a five and dime store where the Old Bag of Nails currently sits; and the basement of the Stoner House, which served as a stop in the Underground Railroad.
As part of the project, students selected sites to draw and researched the areas to create a character for their pages.
Cameron Huebner, for instance, focused his drawing on the Ben Franklin five and dime store that previously resided where the Old Bag of Nails sits.
“It’s an old-school Dollar Tree,” he said. “It was really cool how over time we went from 5 to 10 cents to a dollar. I thought that was interesting to draw.”
He wanted to dive deeper into the building’s history before deciding on a character for his page.
By dedicating his page to the basement of the Stoner House, Bakary Tounkara has been able to learn more about the Underground Railroad and how a large piece of American history has a footprint in Westerville.
“It’s a big piece of history for everyone,” he said. “For me to live in a place that has a bunch of these is pretty cool.”
Meanwhile, Hayden Green focused his art on the first one-room schoolhouse in Westerville, fascinated to see how schools have changed over time.
“It’s a pretty cool project,” he said. “It will look cool when it’s finished.”