Teachers at Work: Art Across Disciplines

The NAGB has a deep dedication to arts education, so partnering with the Ministry of Education, to host a one-day workshop on arts integration was a natural fit. Arts integration is the process of teaching students how to make connections between various disciplines to form meaning. The focus of this year’s workshop was connecting visual art with social studies.   

During the presentation teachers examined how Junkanoo costumes have transformed over time – from easily sourced natural materials to more extravagant, artificial ones. In the pre-independence era, “rushers” used whatever materials they could access, and in fact, the first Junkanoo costumes were made with newspaper and flour paste masks. Costumes adorned with sponge echoed the boom of the sponging industry in the late 1920s. It was not until the 1960s that crepe paper became popular, with it still being a mainstay today.   

In the workshop, arts educators discovered how history has influenced how Junkanoo rushers decorate their costumes. This evolution is intrinsically connected to visual art – like painting on a canvas, Junkanoo incorporates the principles of design to create balance, symmetry, and harmony. Virtually all junkanooers use this knowledge as the foundation to create more unique and ambitious costuming. For example, many Junkanoo groups use colour theory to evoke certain feelings in their work. Even the time-of-day influences their choice of colour: neon colours are more prominent in late night parades as opposed to vibrant warmer tones in daylight parades. Collage comes into play when the Junkanoo artists layer crepe paper to expose and reveal elements, creating graphic blocks of colour. 

Throughout the workshop, teachers were encouraged to create engaging activities using Junkanoo as inspiration. They also created collages inspired by Bahamian artist Jessica Whittingham. From collaging to writing, they explored new ways to integrate history and visual art and learned how to explore the richness of our culture through arts integration. Using their knowledge of design, teachers used photographs and other historical ephemera to produce pieces that investigate the complexities of Bahamian life, juxtaposing their original work with preexisting imagery.  

These kinds of workshops allow us to see the clear but also nuanced connections between disciplines. They allow us to expand on our creativity, from the foundational use of colour and repetition to make patterns like those in Junkanoo, to more in-depth historical research. Ultimately, it gives teachers a deeper appreciation for our Bahamian identity, and the tools to bring these ideas into their classrooms.