A Week of Smiles

National Museum of Mexican Art, Week 4

It is over!
I can’t believe it’s over that fast. This last week went by in the blink of an eye. I will just add that the transportation was very peaceful this time, haha. This week I continued to enjoy every moment and memory. From walking next to the Willis Tower and pigeons munching in the morning, to the heartwarming smiles and cries of the students I will miss forever.
 
For most of the week I worked with the students to finalize their projects. I helped them rehearse their stories and touch up/finish their artwork. On Thursday (presentation day), while the students rehearsed their dance, the other interns and I organized their artwork in the gallery so that their parents and family could see it. I also got to help Miss Ashley straighten a girl’s hair for the show!… Let’s just say I was still working on the last strand of hair while Miss Ashley was done with 3 girls. 

Finally, the show started at 2pm and the parents were all in their place waiting. The performance was outstanding! Their shadow stories had the crowd laughing the whole time. One of the groups’ characters broke apart and the head was dislocated. You could see their hands trying to put it together to play it off and it didn’t work (but it became a highlight of their story :D). I can’t forget to mention how coordinated their dance was, they even surprised me since they didn’t smile as much during practice.
Friday’s theme day was recycle! The kids came in all dressed up in trash -it was really hilarious. I honestly forgot about the theme and ended up throwing a box over my head.

Don Miguel also played a slideshow I made as a memory of the entire camp. He also picked a really sad background song so that they could cry their eyes out. 

Here is the link to check it out:
Overall, I just feel gratitude and so much joy for being part of this experience. It reminded me of Washington week and YAP because it was time to go and split our separate ways. Something else that stuck with me was Don Jaime sharing his story of how he started a change in his school before he left. He created their first yearbook! They now invite him back every year to continue his work. This reminded me of YAP because we have to be creative and fearless to make changes anywhere we go. Mrs.Marilyn (my supervisor) shared advice with me about pursuing my career and not being discouraged by professors and people around me. This helped me reflect on how we have to close our ears to negative connotations and to keep looking forward. Although this was the end of the camp, I know I am now a part of the National Museum of Mexican Art’s  family of learning and growing in the Arts. May I just say, Thank you Ford, YAP, and NMMA for teaching me these values and roots that I will never leave behind.

¡Que Dios Les Bendiga y Muchas Gracias Por Todo!
Sinceramente,

Elisa Arce


Word of the week: Thank you <3

Action of the week: Smiling

Metra experience of the week: On Thursday, I surprisingly found a friend of mine at a cross walk; going towards Union Station to go home too. She will be senior in high school this year so she was visiting colleges. Basically, I was telling her about YAP during the entire train ride! I think this was not a coincidence since she is also an artist and is active in the latino community! Her mom was there too and she loved the idea. I was just happy to share and pass on this great opportunity to my community.


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