Writing/Essay/Journal
“Everyone needs beauty and bread…” – John Muir (1838-1914), naturalist, author and co-founder of the Sierra Club.

The Beautiful Project, launched in 2006, is founded on the belief that creative expression can be a healing and transformative force for refugee children. View this short video about The Beautiful Project. Do you agree with John Muir’s quote above? Explain why or why not.

Activity
In her Natural Surrealism series, Pamela Sukhum “carves” images from many layers of vibrant colors, bringing out the lushness of the natural world. Moving quickly allows her to avoid thinking and judging, simply letting whatever needs to come through, come through.

Create a piece of art using a variation of this technique:
1. Using at least four vibrant colors, paint an abstract design across a large piece of thick paper. Do this quickly without thinking about what the design should look like.
2. When the paint is completely dry, use varying lengths of painter’s tape to create a new design over your painting.
3. Using one of your darker colors, paint over the entire sheet.
4. When the paint is dry, pull off the strips of tape and see what is revealed.