Area students' artwork celebrates human rights

SANDPOINT — A painting hangs on the wall among many others, each representing an article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This painting, in particular, is titled, "My Broken Marilyn."

Sandpoint High School senior Ellie McCray focused on Article 5 when creating her acrylic painting featuring a cracked and broken Marilyn Monroe. Article 5 states, "No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." McCray said she focused on women's rights as well, and Monroe was a female idol in a time when women had few rights.

"When I started, I wasn't sure which article I wanted to do," McCray said. "Just reading the articles, I hadn't opened my mind to as much as they could be. Like cruel and unusual punishment could relate to a lot more than what automatically comes to mind. So this really opened my mind to exactly what those all mean."

For 13 years, the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force and Pend Oreille Arts Council have partnered in the Art for Human Rights student exhibit to bring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the attention of students in the area.

"There is an education factor in general, with the Declaration of Human Rights, and then there is the artwork itself, so it fulfills two purposes — or multiple purposes really, " said Lynn Bridges, president of BCHRTF.

Formulated by Eleanor Roosevelt, as she was the chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission at the time, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on Dec. 10, 1948. The document consists of 30 articles meant to guarantee the rights of all people.

Students from Sandpoint High School and Sandpoint Middle School were instructed to choose an article and represent it artistically.

"I think (the students) enjoy it," said SHS art teacher Ezra Stafford. "They are able to choose an article they kind of resonate toward, and they can actually put that text into visual communication."

While the students had a bit of freedom with the project, some were given slightly different guidelines. The freshman, for instance, focused on Article 26 — "Everyone has the right to education."

"I talked with them a lot about the history of the declaration and we went through the articles, but then we focused on that one and how there are countries where girls are not allowed to go to school," said SHS art teacher Heather Guthrie.

The freshmen were instructed to write something they were grateful about regarding their education, and then produced black-and-white scratchboard art projects addressing the article. Some of the students were paired up and instructed to pick an article, which they illustrated in the form of a map.

Because the juniors and seniors have done the art show a couple of times, Guthrie said, they were given a bit more freedom.

"I asked them to select an article and think about the word empathy and what that means, and then use that word in the back of their mind as they created that work of art," Guthrie said.

To have empathy is to understand the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another from that person's perspective.

McCray said when she chose Marilyn, she felt a lot of people, herself included, feel empathy toward Marilyn. Another senior, Hannah Davidson, also let her empathy shine through as she chose Article 26, though it was not required of her as it was with the freshmen. She chose the article because it focuses on how education promotes understanding, tolerance and friendship.

Davidson's painting features two people, one in color and one in black and white. As the person in color embraces the other, a glow can be seen on the others shoulder as the color begins to bleed into her.

"I just wanted to show how the person who comforting the other person is bringing joy back to them, by how the color was coming back into the person in black and white," Davidson said.

This is the first art show held in the SHS library as it is typically held in the Pend Oreille Arets Council Gallery. The intent was to try and get more students better access to the artwork, as well as the community. The event was scheduled from 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday and by 6 p.m., nearly 130 people had signed the guest book.

The artwork will remain on display until Feb. 2. All school visitors are asked to please check in at the school office prior to going to the library.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.