Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Art students at Sylvania Campus illustrate novel

Photos and Story by James Hill

Students in Mark Smith’s Art 181 “Beginning Painting” classes at Portland Community College’s Sylvania Campus had the opportunity to apply a campus-wide diversity initiative – Sylvania Reads! – into their coursework during the fall term. Their work was showcased in an exhibit on display from mid-November to early December in the Communication Technoloy Building.

Sylvania Reads!, an initiative of the campus’ Diversity Council, chose “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie as its book pick of the year. Since the beginning of the fall term, workshops have been conducted with faculty throughout the campus about how they can incorporate the book into their curriculum for the current academic year.

Smith gave his classes an assignment – “multi-episodic narrative paintings” in response to “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” Students were asked to read the book, filter its contents through their own unique experiences, then paint as a personal response to the events described in the book. Students combined imagery to suggest a sequential series of events rather than a singular event seen from a fixed perspective.

“I’m incredibly proud of my students and their work,” Smith said. “Some of these examples are from true beginners, and others are from more experienced painters.”

“A huge round of thanks goes to Mark for so beautifully weaving Sylvania Reads! into his students’ coursework,” said Dave Stout, division dean of English and World Languages at Sylvania and one of the catalysts for Sylvania Reads! “He’s a role model for all of us.”