Workshop Overview | Stories | Generating Story Ideas
Recycling Objects, Telling Stories
On January 12th, 2005, the International House of Blues Foundation and the UCF Cultural Heritage Alliance directed a workshop on recycling and storytelling with local K-12 teachers. This workshop was funded in part by the Division of Cultural Affairs.
Thrown away objects tell stories, their stories become art, and the art becomes a gallery object. Below you may find some of the stories participants shared with us...
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Golden Jewelry Flowers
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I think of this quote when I look at my artwork. In a field, I find golden flowers, nourished by a golden sun. What is true beauty? Is it defined by "things" we aquire, or is it in the cast away objects we find? I find true beauty in nature.
-Barbara Davis |
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Family
My artwork is about my family. It includes photos of my children, my husband, and myself. The center includes a star - though not "perfect" - it is however colorful and creative. At times, no family is "perfect", but we love being together and spending time doing things with one another. :)
-Alarice Gibiser |
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Palm in Paradise
The jewelry used was that which was made or bought for me by my daughter. Her beauty inside and out has inspired me. She brings happiness to her dad and I.
- Rebecca Kemp |
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My story is about my trying to put my life together, to love and love more fully. My story is also about my prayers that all of us could live in peace. I chose big earrings for the organic shapes - they're tacky like my aunt's jewelry and they look like flowers. The tank with the feather coming out is for peace. The puzzle pieces are for trying to put it all together and make sense of it all. I wanted to also represent the earth, so I painted sky, sea, and leaves and I glued them on rocks. I love the beach and I love the rocks, so that's also another reason. The feather is white for peace and I have been seeing them everywhere so I thought it was a sign.
-Sandy Fraser |
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When my son was young, money was tight. We would plan special things to do on the weekends that cost nothing. One adventure included going to a state park to see how many different types of animals and birds we could find using our binoculars. As the parent, I was showing him safe ways to go and explore. I tried to cross a stream in a shallow area, but fell on my butt and got soaking wet. My son remembers to this day the adventure that wound up causing mom to fall in "the river".
-Janet L. Gidday |
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Green symbolizes the fruited plain of the US. The cross is choked by a chain. The US holds the key to bring back peace, innocence (pearls), and friendship (pin) back to children.
- Diana Theobald
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Generating Story Ideas
Woody Long
 Mary Proctor
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Teachers can jump-start student storytelling by giving names to kinds of stories that are already in their repertoire but may be unable to access without prompting. Discuss the following types of stories with students and give them an opportunity to jump in with "I know one!" when they feel ready. To prepare, brainstorm (with yourself and others) examples of each of the genres listed below.
Types of stories (each of these categories may overlap with the others):
Family stories : these are often children's first introduction to narrative-every family has a corpus of stories about family experiences that are passed down from generation to generation:
Immigrant narratives : coming to America , early experiences in the United States
Memorable family characters : relatives and ancestors who may have been eccentric, extraordinary or played a part in historical events
Ethnic and holiday custom stories : origins of family customs, celebrations of calendar customs like religious and local holidays
Memorates : supernatural experience stories about ESP, ghosts and other unexplained phenomena
Personal Experience Narratives :
Memorable experiences : think in terms of "superlatives": the happiest, saddest, scariest or funniest times
Disaster stories : natural disasters like hurricanes, accidents and so on
Personal myths : these are foundational stories about the self, stories that explain something about an individual's character and personality ("why I am the way I am")
Personal experience narratives about encounters with others : best friend, family, arch enemy/bully
Legends :
Local legends : ghost stories, stories about local landmarks, including cemeteries and buildings
Urban legends : stories about modern city life, usually centering around rumors about dangerous events and people
Historical legends: stories about historical events and persons
Dr. Natalie Underberg
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