CAPSTONE PROJECT
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
About this creative project
Maria Fiorito is a graduate student at the University of Florida. This project is Master's in Art Education Capstone Project at the University of Florida. She hopes to examine the outcomes and implications of exploring one’s personal narrative and ancestral heritage through a creative process approach. She will be observing and researching the development of self-identity and connection between creator and ancestral background as participants (including herself) create artworks reflective of their family history exploration in genealogy research and family outreach.
Connecting to Your
Cultural Heritage
Through
Art
The Washing (2023), 16”x20” oil on canvas. This is a reflection of a vivid memory of my grandmother. When visiting her and family in Mazatlán, Mexico, where my mother was born and raised, I often saw her washing clothes in an outdoor sink. The large bright pink soap Zote, so common in Mexico for handwashing, was striking to me for its color as well as its use since my immediate family did not wash clothes in the same way. This memory is painted with oil paint and in brighter colors to indicate that I feel memories from early youth often stand out, possibly being enriched or even slightly exaggerated in how we may want to remember them.
A Far-Off Memory (2023), 12”x12” photograph. This reflection piece is a manipulated photo of a close moment with my Greek grand uncle Panos in my late 20’s. Panos, who is from and lives in Athens, Greece, is the half-brother of my grandmother (painted in The Washing). In this scene, I am enjoying a meal with him at a restaurant which looks over the beautiful and ancient city of Athens. I chose to create a dark circular movement around the scene so the viewer of the piece feels as if they are looking through a telescope or binoculars. I feel like our memories as adults are more realistic than those we have as children, but, although we know we were there, it often does not feel so when looking back into our memories. It seems as if we have the perspective of an onlooker at a distance.
The Danish Bed (2023), 16”x20” fabric and gauche on linen. This reflection piece shows myself lying in an antique wood oak bed, with voluminous bedding. This is a painting done is gauche on linen, and I chose to sew fabric onto the painted linen canvas for more varied affect. This carved wood bed is the bed that I acquired after my father’s passing. It was passed down to him as a child through his Danish side, which family had emigrated from Denmark and had the bed made in the early 1900s. It is our guestroom bed where extended family sleep. I too have lain and slept in this bed for naps, in sickness, and just to relax. Though I do not have living memories of my early Danish family members, this artwork reflects how I still feel a connection to them when I think and wonder about all those who have seen and felt the beautiful wood frame and have shared the same perspective as me when I lie within it.
How to Start, Inspiration & Dates
Ideas on How to Start
Get inspiration:
RESEARCH: Family History
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Search your family tree for ancestors
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Are there family members that inspire or have influence on you or others?
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What did they do as a hobby? What did they love to do? What was their employment?
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What historical, social, or economical events impacted them?
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Do you share any of these?
ASK: Oral Stories, Memories & Values
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Talk to your family and close friends about family stories they know. Are there family journals you can read?
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What do family members, particularly older generations, remember about their youth? What memories do you share with them? What memories make your family unique? What traditions did they practice? Do you practice similar ones?
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Are there passed down items that have meaning? Why?
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What were their values? Do you share similar ones?
PREPARE: What do you want to create and share?
What images do you think of based on your research?
What stories, events, or persons stand out to you?
What do you want your artwork to remind you of?
What message do you want to share with others?
Sketch or plan out your image or project.
What medium(s) would work best to help convey your idea or message? What size would work best for this? Ideas below.
RECOMMENDED
Get-together!
Join our first get-together on Zoom for introductions and brainstorming to help start your project! Join our weekly zoom get-togethers to share, learn, or gain motivation! More info below.
Record what you find to help plan your artistic project. Record your findings from your research, your emotions, problems you encounter, and your reflections.
Reflection Questions:
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How might this information influence how you view yourself? Does this impact your self-identity?
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What emotions do you have from what you have learned or remember? Are you proud? Ashamed? Resilient? Inspired? Motivated? Stronger?
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Do you feel more connected to your ancestor(s)? Family?
For more about Emotional Genealogy, see article What is Your Emotional Genealogy by Judith Fein.
Creative Ideas
Examples
(Figurative, representational, and abstract)
Create anything that reminds you or connects you to your ancestors.
Paint or draw an ancestral family member(s).
Create an artwork that represents your emotions that link to you cultural or family history.
Paint, draw, recreate a passed down craft, pastime, employment, or tradition such as quilting, dollmaking, or metalworking, that was practiced by an ancestor(s); or a crafted visual that represents these things.
Do you have past family members that loved to garden? Create a still life of flowers, embroider a garden reflection, or make a flower arrangement to display.
Arts & Crafts Mediums
Examples
Fine art – painting, drawing, etc. (any drawing, painting/coloring medium)
Photography
Mixed media
Installation art
Video, performance art
Fiber art – quilting, embroidery, textile, clothing, sewing (functional & aesthetic), crocheting, knitting, doll-making, T-shirt design, etc.
Ceramics
Art glass
Jewelry, enameling, filigree, etc.
Soldering, forging, etc.
Print-making, wood-cut, linocut, etc.
Wood working/building, etc.
Decorated food, floral arrangements, etc.
Zoom get-togethers
(Optional but recommended)
Exhibition
(optional but recommended)
During these next few months, we will hold optional weekly (or bi-weekly) zoom get-togethers so that artists can come together to collaborate, discuss and share their works and techniques, offer advice and ask questions on similar crafts, or just have fun socializing with others. Join one meeting or all!
Sunday, March 17th, 7:30pm - 8:30pm+
These dates may change depending on attendee requests & availability. Later dates may also change due to attendee requests.
Attendees can request tentative Zoom dates (i.e. Saturdays instead, or another weekday) in the sign up below, or in email.
End of May/early June (date TBD)
Depending on the number of completed submittals, we hope to display these creative pieces in an exhibit held at the Williamsburg LDS building at the end of May/early June. Works can be submitted with artist name or anonymously. An artist statement about the artwork would be requested. This is NOT a juried show! The goal is to show people the diverse and unique connections to our ancestral background through a vast range of creativity.
Currently scheduled Zoom get-togethers: