A middle-school student and an artist stood side by side to paint a mural together Thursday.
The student belonged to P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School. The artist belonged to the Fondasyon Sant D’A Jackmel Art Center in Jacmel, Haiti.
The pair spread different hues around with their fingers on the long white sheet of paper. They finished with a high-five.
The collaboration came after a group of 13 Haitian artists visited P.K. Yonge for International Education Week. While the visit was the second time artists had come as part of the Sister City Program of Gainesville Inc., nine artists were visiting for the first time.
Together, the middle-school art students and adult artists from Haiti painted a mural representing water as a global substance that unites humankind.
Jacmel is a city by the water in Haiti, and most of the Haitian artists painted elaborate fish and beachscapes. The students followed suit.
Ian Flores, 12, painted a wave with the sunset surrounding it. The seventh-grader said he grew up in Puerto Rico and visited the beach almost every day while he lived there.
By the end, the artists had a vibrant canvas reflecting their combined effort.
Art teacher Susan I. Johnson taught the class on Thursday, and she will use the mural as another art project for her students. They will complete a poem about their experiences collaborating with the Haitian artists.
Johnson said she spent 10 years teaching in the Bahamas.
"Sometimes, you’ll see the difference in the artwork," she said. "Some people don’t have the same experiences with water, and instead of beaches and fish, they’ll draw a water pump."
The program promotes global awareness and education, said Julie Henderson, director of communications and international relations at P.K. Yonge.
"The projects in Haiti and Gainesville are focused on international and global education for K-12," she said. "And because the lesson centers around art, they don’t necessarily need to use direct language to communicate."
Twelve of the 13 artists spoke mostly Creole.
One among them, Fabrice Peitote, functioned as the interpreter for the group.
The artists are able to visit Gainesville through a project called From Gainesville With Love. The project focuses on creating sustainable solutions for Haitian redevelopment by connecting communities like Gainesville and Jacmel.
The artists will stay in Gainesville for two weeks, and founder and acting director David Anes said the group is actively looking for new ways to engage them during their visit.
On Monday evening, the group went to karaoke at Boca Fiesta. Next Friday, he said, the group will showcase their artwork at Maude’s Sidecar at 10 p.m.
"Next week, there’s less going on because students are gone for Thanksgiving," Anes said. "We want to call out to other people — artists, musicians, organizations — and have someone host these guys."
Contact Brooke Baitinger at bbaitinger@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @BaitingerBrooke
