Dana Visser

001186311
EDUC-3700
Jana Boschee
A/R/Tographic Artist Statement

How can literacy education contribute to the voices that are heard and what needs to be
said? How might literacy and language arts education contribute to your practice as an
educator?

“Finding Shelter” is a multimedia piece including drawings in a comic style overlaid with
music. I chose to include both visual and oral elements to this piece to try to play on several of
the six ELA strands: reading, viewing, visually representing, and listening. The audience engages
in viewing the art through a video format. The audience is given the chance to read short
character dialogue and sound effects. Many symbols and visual aids are included in the comic in
order to engage the audience with deeper meaning through visual representations. Lastly, the
music that plays as the drawings are shown allow the audience to listen as they engage with the
art.

This piece shows an ordinary looking classroom with “normal” looking students but then
digs deeper into the realities that are being faced by the individuals in the classroom. It is
common for students to “put on a brave face” and act like everything is fine, especially when the
need for fitting in is present. I believe that the students in our classrooms oftentimes are dealing
with really significant, and sometimes painful, situations both in and out of school. I believe that
as educators, we can teach them coping skills to deal with these hardships through the literacies.
Particularly, I believe writing can be used as both a coping mechanism and an outlet for students.
Specifically, through encouraging personal journal writing (that is not graded or viewed by the
teacher), we can spark the habit of writing in order to work through various thoughts,
perspectives, and experiences.

Our student’s voices need to be heard and need to be acknowledged. They need to be
taught the tools to properly communicate and navigate tough situations. We need to encourage
the use of multiple platforms in which students are able to find their voices. Whatever their
experiences may be, encouraging honest and personal reflective writing, students are better able
to understand what needs to be said. We, as educators, must provide safe and meaningful
opportunities for students to reflect and find shelter, or safe havens, in the literacies.

*Although this piece is in a video format, I have included the pdf of solely the drawings if you
would like more time to view or the ability to zoom in to see more details of the drawings.