Story by Josephine, Katherine, and Maraya
Photographs by Cat and Mrs. Monteith

Katherine: As someone who’s been at GUS for many years, it’s exciting to be starting the White Shirt Project, a well-known element of the 8th grade year at GUS. I’ve always known that it’s a huge factor in our year because each and every year, the projects lining the hallways are stunning. The work put into them is obvious, and whilst it can feel scary to tackle such a big project, I’m looking forward to being able to participate in it myself at last and putting my own touch onto the assignment. 

Josephine: Like Katie, as a 6th grader and a 7th grader, I was always excited to see the White Shirt Projects get put up. I was amazed that people I knew could make such interesting, expressive, and creative art. I was eager to do the project myself, to attempt to make something like all the other 8th graders had before me. Now that I’m in 8th grade, I’m feeling creative and ambitious, but also a little nervous and readers might be wondering, “What is the assignment exactly?”

Maraya: The White Shirt Project is a GUS tradition originally created by our art teacher, Dawn Southworth. She tasked eighth grade students with creating a project using a white shirt as a prompt and an artist as an influence to create original, awesome works of art that reflect our biographies. In 7th grade, I’ll admit my expectations were high, after seeing projects ranging from painting, media, sewing, and photography in the hallways of the Upper School. Knowing this high level of work was what came before me, I felt a bit overwhelmed, especially as a new student hoping to make my own mark on the project. Who would I choose? What would I make? How would I know what to do?

Josephine, Katherine, and Maraya: To help us with this process, we’ve come up with a recipe to explain to you, our readers, what the project is, and for us to follow to make sure we are able to realize our own goals for this unique and essential GUS project. Here is our recipe for a successful White Shirt Project:

Ingredients:

• One White Shirt

• One Contemporary Art History Slide Show

• One Brainstorm Sheet

• One trip to NYC to visit museums such as MoMA, Museum of Arts and Design, or the International Center of Photography.

• One trip to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) to see exhibitions

• Selection of an artist

• Gathering of artistic materials (depending on the chosen medium)

• Two Page Research Paper/Biographical Profile (with a critical assessment of the artist) 

• Making the work

• Artist Statement

• Installation of the Art

• Gallery Talks

• Artist Talks with Slide Show projection of work

Trip Photos by Cat + Ms. Monteith

Directions

Katherine, Josephine, and Maraya: First, Mrs. Southworth introduced the project to us with a slide show highlighting important contemporary artists working in a range of mediums, and then she instructed us to buy a white shirt. We had to create a brainstorm sheet and begin researching ideas. As a class, we took a trip to New York City, where we visited the Museum of Art and Design, MoMA, and the International Center of Photography, or ICP. Most of us had picked our artists by the time we returned, but we also took a trip to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem for further ideas and inspiration. Now that we have all picked an artist, we will gather our materials, depending on the medium, and we will have to do research to write a two-page biographical profile. In the middle of all of this other work, we also have to make our original pieces of art, which will be installed in the upper school after winter break. We will also write an artist statement and give an artist talk at Arts Night, and we will have gallery walks and talks with our 4th grade partners and with other members of the community. 

Katherine: When Ms. Southworth first introduced us to the work, she showed us a slide show displaying plenty of artists with their own unique style. Not only did it allow our class to see potential artists we could use as inspiration, but it also opened our eyes and showed how much freedom we had, due to the multitude of media we could use to create our art. I scrolled through the list of artists, and whilst their works were stunning, none of them felt like the artist I wanted to use in my project. That was until I came to the artist Kehinde Wiley. I could appreciate his mixture of realism with more cartoonish parts in his painting, and he used the same media I wished to use. Going to New York and to the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) only confirmed my interest in a more realistic art piece. Seeing the different paintings and sculptures was fascinating, but I felt more drawn to the illustrations which contained extra details in the figures drawn. I plan to take the approach of a traditional painting, and use paints on the canvas. I’m excited with how my project is working out so far, and I believe I have a solid foundation to create to the best of my ability.

Maraya: Whilst on the 8th grade trip to New York, I wasn’t inspired at the Museum of Art and Design or at ICP, but MoMA was exciting. I had found an artist I wanted to use as my inspiration… or so I thought. After our trip to the PEM,  we saw an exhibit on Gio Swaby, a Bahamian visual artist who uses her work to create love letters and inspiration for black women. Being a person of color who enjoyed many aspects of her work, I decided to switch my artist from Kara Walker to Gio Swaby, and now I have an idea I’m really excited about!

Josephine: Like Katie, I saw my artist’s work in Ms. Southworth’s slide show. I was intrigued by Lesley Dill’s use of words because I am interested in reading, writing, and the English language in general. I wasn’t sure at first if she was the artist for me, so in New York, going through MoMA and seeing the exhibits at the International Center of Photography (ICP), I kept an open mind as I took in tons of interesting work, especially the Marlene Dietrich exhibit at ICP, but nothing inspired me like Lesley Dill’s work. At the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), I was inspired by Gio Swaby like Maraya was, and I had a lot of new ideas, but they would have completely changed my project, so I stuck with Lesley Dill feeling she was indeed the right choice for me. My project involves a door, fishing line, and a whole bunch of paper cranes made from old book pages.

Katherine, Josephine, and Maraya: We cannot wait to see where this project takes us, and we look forward to sharing the results with you in part two of our post after we install the work and share it with the community on Arts Night! See you in January!