Senior Emma Burns is expressing her passion for art and respect for Latin American culture through a mural as part of her “Latin American Art Visibility and Politics” independent study.
Burns worked with Spanish teacher Evan Greenwald to design the independent study course that allows Burns to combine her passion for art with her love for Spanish. Burns has spent the semester studying Latin American art and artists, and she is now in the process of creating a mural to represent Latin American art and culture.
“I want to try to help tell a story,” Burns said. “I hope [the mural] conveys how, as of many aspects of other cultures. Latin American art has been overshadowed by white artists until a convenient point, which is true about a lot of other types of art where it’s cast aside. Historically, it’s cast aside as not good and up to the standards of the classic English painters.”
While Burns wants the mural to represent the history of Latin American art she’s learned about, she doesn’t want to overshadow the actual Latin American artists.
“Because I’m white, I don’t have any Latin American heritage, so I don’t think it is fair for me to just paint in their style,” Burns said. “This is Latin American art, not mine, but I want to be able to depict [Latin American art].”
Greenwald sees the mural as a capstone for Burns’ Spanish career at ARHS, representing what she’s learned from her independent study explorations.
“[Burns’ studies] go through the different types of art that have been seen in Latin American cultures since pre-Columbus or indigenous groups to more modern pieces of art with the idea of getting information on how she can make a collaborative art piece that can be more of a transformational force for our school,” Greenwald said.
Burns plans to represent lesser-known forms of art through her project. Her independent study has allowed her to learn about techniques used by Latin American artists who are often overlooked in art history.
“I think that sometimes when people study art history they don’t study other types of art like [Latin American art], and I think it’s important to look at all of it because it’s all always been good, it’s just been different,” Burns said. “I think a lot of it got overshadowed historically, so I want to highlight that.”
Burns’ mural, which will be a landscape painting, is being made with a focus on inclusivity and is an opportunity to showcase the artistic techniques she has been developing for years.
“During COVID I had so much free time and picked up some oil paints and stuff, like the real deal, and I would spend every single day painting morning to night,” Burns said.
Through taking multiple art classes at Algonquin including AP Studio Art Drawing she has developed a wide arsenal of skills. Greenwald believes Burns’ artistic skills plus her interest in culture and politics have made this a powerful project.
“I found most interesting was the interdisciplinary approach because she is an amazing artist and she has a passion for art and that itself is a discipline, but then we have the Spanish aspect, interpreting sources in Spanish from artists, interpreting art that includes Spanish words, pop culture, …[and] history, looking at how muralism, for example, was in Mexico around the revolution,” Greenwald said.
Blending her four years of Spanish classes and art has been powerful for Burns, and she’s appreciated the resources Greenwald has introduced to her. Through her independent study, Greenwald encourages her to keep an eye on themes and tropes portrayed in art.
“I’ve created modules for her looking at muralism, looking at social movements, looking at indigenous influences, all the way up to pop culture, dictatorships and giving her really the resources and reflections to think about, ‘Okay you’re reading this about Mexican muralism and identity; how can that relate to your final product in this independent study? What aspects can you take,’” Greenwald said.
Burns has enjoyed learning about how revolutions influences mural creation in Latin America, and she’s grown especially interested in motifs in Latin American art and how she might incorporate them into her mural.
“There’s a lot of iconography, usage of symbols in the artwork, and also looking into native plants, native animals, things like that, that belonged to Latin America,” Burns said. “I think those are ways to convey the setting of [the mural]. It’s hard to convey the language through [the mural], but I think if I’m able to grasp the natural pieces of the land where the culture was born then I’m kind of able to convey it as a whole.”
As a senior, Burns wants to leave her mark and have an impact on others.
“I think especially this year, we have a lot of political changes and I think it’s important to try to use my voice in whatever way I can, and for me that way is usually artwork,” Burns said. “I’m not a super loud person. It’s important to me that when people walk into the school they can look around and see themselves.”
