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I worked with a second grade student on Ernest Whiteman's
petroglyphs. We looked at his artwork, and discussed his approach to a
re-creation. Then, my student made a petroglyph of the story of the birth
of Jesus. She found it difficult, challenging, and frustrating to try to
tell a story using only pictures. "I felt like it was hard to tell a
story only useing pitchurs (sic)," she said. I told her that it very
well could be posted on the Internet, where it could remain far into the
future, and conceivably millions of people could see it. Her face was
priceless. We then began a wonderful discussion of the power of artwork,
and it's ability to make people see things in different ways. She said if
she had made a petroglyph of a day in her life, but someone in the future
misunderstood what it meant, how could she make sure they got it right? I
told her that ís just the way it is, and people have to be free to
interpret art any way they feel. What if we had misinterpreted Ernest
Whiteman's intent in his artwork? She then had the big "ah-ha",
and wanted to make more petroglyphs for her friends, to test their
understanding of her artwork. I encouraged her to do so.
Response from Elly
Mentor: David Harrell Bemidji State University Elementary
Education major.