a silly little portfolio
Positive News: a pandemic journey
In collaboration with Lis Charman, Lo Moran, Friendtorship-Together/Apart, and the students at the Metro Montessori Middle school.
This original story follows a young person in pandemic times through their
day-to-day life, while being bombarded with negative news cycles from all directions. Eventually, the main character decides to set out in search of some positive news left in the world. After traveling to many different places, our protagonist makes notes in their journal documenting even the most mundane positivity they could find. As they return home, the young person yells out into the world informing everyone that there is still in fact, positive news out there.
“Times have been hard recently.” This statement plays on repeat these days. Often news sources focus on headlines that are horrendous and disastrous more than heartwarming stories. Being surrounded by negative perspectives can trap you in a cycle of thinking the worst. How does the news you and your family consume affect your day-to-day mental health? How can we refocus our attention on the positive aspects of life, even in the most challenging times?
This project includes an interactive art prompt, please feel free to participate
and submit your creations on the Together/Apart website!
“Together/Apart aims to foster community and friendship through art and creativity. Though we cannot be together physically, we are all still a part of the same community we were before.
We hope to create a feeling of inclusion through shared experiences. Together/Apart is a space to take creative risks, be vulnerable, process emotions, and share our perspectives. The distance doesn’t reduce the value of our connections with one another.
Join Us! Let’s make something Together, while we’re Apart.”
from the Together/Apart website
Postitive News Video by Kaya
PROMPT:
Do research! Where do you get your news? Where do your parents, friends, siblings, grandparents, and teachers get their news? Check out the different mediums that news is relayed through(print, websites, social media, mouth-to-mouth, etc). Make a list including everyone’s news sources. Make a mental note of any similarities and differences between how they present information. Find two positive stories to use in your final artwork.
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Think positive! Come up with two positive stories that have happened to you or your family since the year started(These can be as small as “we ate a yummy dinner,” “I got a good grade in my class,” or “we’re all alive today,” etc.). How does focusing on the positive for a change feel? Was it hard?
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Design! Using your favorite art medium, create any type of news page using all four positive stories as the headlines. Use some of the news outlet research you did to give you inspiration for layout, content, etc. Make sure you include images too!
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Submit your news page using the submission form at the top of this page, and make sure to share it with as many people as possible to spread positivity!