Art project has international shape

International Interdependence Hexagon Project, featuring “Hexagons of the Heart” installation, opening Fri. Sept. 3, show continues through Oct. 12, Melberger Arts Center (123 Wyoming Ave., Scranton). Info: interdependencedaynepa.org, info@melbergerartscenter.com.

Student artwork from across the globe that depicts concerns about environmental, social and civil rights issues will be part of the focus of the fourth annual International Interdependence Hexagon Project.

The project will open on Friday, Sept. 3, inside the Melberger Arts Center as part of the traditional First Friday art walk through the city’s downtown.

Hexagon Project Chair and Keystone College art education professor Beth Burkhauser said this year’s show highlights the unique tie that was made between local junior and senior high school students and those affected by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12.

According to Burkhauser, Tunkhannock Area High School teacher Patricia Hahn was looking for a way to connect students to the Caribbean country.

“I suggested that her students could make hexagons that express feelings of compassion, understanding and encouragement,” Burkhauser said.

Student works from Tunkhannock were delivered to children in the city of Gwo Jan, Haiti, by fellow Keystone College professor David Porter in March. Haitian students responded to the creativity of the Tunkhannock Area students by sending back their own hexagons and drawings on small pieces of notebook paper.

The interconnectivity of the project had taken root.

“Pat’s students took the artwork from Haiti and incorporated them into their original hexagons for a new painting project,” she said.

When asked about the project, Tunkhannock Area student Cortney Rogers wrote, “To know that the images made it to Haiti and gave happiness to others is a great feeling.”

“That’s the power in creating art,” Burkhauser said. “It can be transformational in people, and I believe that young people need to be a part of projects like this. If it inspires them to do more in the future, that would be my greatest thrill.”

The original works, inspirations from Haiti and final hexagons are featured in the “Hexagons of the Heart” installation in Friday’s opening, which runs through Oct. 12.

Other local school districts participating in the 2010 Hexagon Project were Lackawanna Trail, Mountain View and Riverside. They will join schools from Arkansas, California, Utah, Connecticut and Florida for a show featuring more than 400 individual canvases.

Also included are two internationally themed workshops. One will allow visitors to design a T-shirt for $2, and proceeds will go towards fighting human trafficking in Nepal.

The other is a kite-making workshop inspired by the children of Haiti, who Burkhauser said make kites from stray materials including scraps of plastic bags and sticks.

The Hexagon Project is one component of Interdependence Day, which was cofounded on Sept. 12, 2003, by Scranton resident Sondra Meyers. The date was deliberately chosen to follow the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa.

This year’s Interdependence Day will be celebrated on Sept. 13.

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