Nick Azzaro, a 2023 Washtenaw Artist Grant recipient, recently completed his project “Beyond 23.”
The Washtenaw Artists Grants are designed to support Washtenaw County artists with new and ongoing projects, specifically those that serve BIPOC communities and involve public participation. Azzaro’s project brought together Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor high school students to work collaboratively with out-of-use library books, wheatpaste, and other materials.
Why work with high school students specifically for this project?
For the rest of my career, I always want to be working with students at some level. From 2017 to 2020, I taught at Ypsi High, built a program there–really enjoyed it. Before that, I worked with elementary and middle school students. I’m open to working with anyone, but usually, I like working with high school age students. For this specific project, I felt like we could get a little bit more done; we could dig into the materials. We were working with out-of-use school library books—a lot had outdated information that’s really problematic, and to get to a certain message, we did need to have a little bit older students involved.
How did this project center the equity lens of the Washtenaw Artist Grant?
This project is designed to let anyone make a statement. What could be more accessible? Working with things that are plentiful like out-of-use materials, printer paper, paint, markers, pencils, crayons, pretty much anything that was already in the room, plus glue made from flour and water—all these are simple things. So in addition to the goal of making statements, this project is designed to let anyone participate.
”My job as a teacher is to meet each student where they are and create an environment where learning is possible. It's so important to create programming that offers prompts for discussion and expression rather than directives.
Nick Azzaro2023 Washtenaw Artist Grant Recipient
How did the students viewpoints come through in the project? Did it spark any tough conversations?
Every student did their own thing, put themselves into the piece, made it their own, put their identities in there, and that’s what I was hoping for. I gave them a prompt: here’s four boxes of out-of-use books, go through them, find something that connects with you. Whether it’s an image, whether it’s text, whether it’s something that was taught to students before you, some sort of historical fact that’s no longer accurate–that was never accurate to begin with. Have a dialogue with it. This is a chance to insert yourself into history and potentially re-write it because they’re engaging with the material.
My job as a teacher is to meet each student where they are and create an environment where learning is possible. The statement each student creates through structured art projects is what parents and others will learn from. It’s so important to create programming that offers prompts for discussion and expression rather than directives.
How did the grant funds support the project?
Buying a surplus of materials; tempura paint, crayons, markers, an induction plate, and a cart that allowed me to get these materials to and from classrooms much easier. All the materials that I bought stayed with those classrooms, so they weren’t meant for me to keep; they were for the students to use. The grant also allowed me to buy lumber to make individual frames for all the students. It took a little labor on my end, but without the funding, I wouldn’t have been able to make 64 12×12” frames. It also allowed me to buy snacks and goodies at the end of the project to decompress, talk about the work, and just celebrate what had been achieved after a few weeks of working together. This grant allowed me to purchase a lot of little things, which ended up being a very large thing.
“Beyond 23” was shown at Neutral Zone and Riverside Arts Center, allowing the project to be displayed in both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The project was supported by Lorinda Skunda of Ypsilanti Community High School and Kristin Kubacki of Ann Arbor Huron High School.
Azzaro is currently participating in an artist residency with Riverside Arts Center through September. He will host workshops on his wheatpaste process on Thursday, June 27th, from 6:00-7:30PM and Sunday, July 21st, from 2:00-3:30PM
