Goodnow Garden Totem Project

This is an awesome project! I was invited to a 6 day residency by Amy Macht (The Macht Foundation) and Gloria Jenkins from the Goodnow Community Center in Baltimore. I have worked with them before to create Good Character Banners, Ancestor Masks and even a fiberglass Baltimore Crab sculpture with the young people who come to them for after school activities.

When I arrived at the center for a planning meeting, I saw the new community garden that they had created last Summer. I immediately envisioned the totems in my mind's eye! I was told that their neighborhood has new residents who are refugees from Bhuton and the Congo. The fact is that they had requested the opportunity to grow food on some unused land at the center. Out of this sprung a Community Garden.

Six workshops later, our participants had reviewed totem history in the Americas as well as abroad to inspire them. The created shapes and sketches for each piece on the poles. They then painted their shapes which were assembled onto the poles to bring the energy of growth, partnership and sustainability to their own garden.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

VIVA Mission Cultural Center! My first Day of the Dead

The Mission Cultural Center in San Fransisco CA is the place where I was first exposed to the Day of the Dead.
http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/

I was invited in 1986 to participate in an exhibition that was called "Rooms for the Dead". Each of 25 artists were invited to create an artwork inspired by the traditional Dia de los Muertos alters.
I see on their website that this has become a tradition at the center.
http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/call-to-artists.html

Day of the Dead

A Hands on Visual Art Workshop
Offered by,
Caryl Henry Alexander

Saturday, November 7, 2009
10am-1pm $35.00 per student
To register:
caryl@bigbangbanners.com

Tell all your people! Thnx!

Chesapeake Bay Life Banner Project

This 3rd and 4th grade banner project was created by integrating fourth grade Chesapeake Bay science curriculum and MD fine arts content standards.

Our focus was to identify the key components to a healthy bay, it’s floor, water and watershed. Together we identified important organisms that live in the bay’s environment and created drawings and paintings to represent them. The mural came together as a powerful depiction of the interdependence of all who live in Chesapeake Bay watershed.

More than 120 students, faculty, staff and PTA volunteers collaborated on the 14ft x 12ft artwork’s concept, design and painting.

The project is supported by


and the Fairland EC PTA

2008 a Year of Great People and Projects

Successful Self Portrait Masks@2008 HOCO Summer Art Camp

This SELF PORTRAIT MASK Project provided great opportunities for 4th and 5th grade students to explore developing concepts, sculpture, design, drawing and painting. Each artist created an artwork that is representative of a part of their own self image. Every student had 15 hours to develop and realize the artwork.





Copyright Caryl Henry Alexander 8-20-2008
You are welcome to use the ideas and images with attribution.