FROM SCRATCH
Story, history, culture and craft: the elements and experience of a meal, from scratch.
Tuesdays 10am-3pm | Ages 8 - 13 | April - June 2014
What do clay, cloth and food have in common? They are all elements of a table set for a meal. Why do we drink from cups and eat off of plates? Why do we eat some food with chopsticks, some with forks, and others with our fingers? Can a meal tell a story? A history? We know that cooking delicious food is an important part of a great meal, but what about the other elements that make the “breaking of bread together” such a special experience? What do we find at our tables, and who made them?
When we experience a meal, we’re surrounded by textiles, metal arts, carpentry, woodworking, culinary arts, ceramics, illustration and graphic arts. We’ll design and build the table we envision, from scratch: throwing pottery, whittling spoons, and crafting our meal. We will utilize plant materials to create our own napkins and linens on with which to wipe our mouths and to spread our feast.
Alongside our artistic endeavors, we’ll explore the rituals, cultures, customs, and traditions that we bring to the table. We’ll look into our own family histories and ask questions like: what were the circumstances and experiences of our families’ immigration to the United States? Are there family recipes or traditional foods that traveled with them? What are the customs and rituals in our lives, why do we have them, and what purpose do they serve? What do we wish to cultivate and what stoggy traditions do we wish to leave behind? We’ll make up our own rules, inventing and reinventing the elements of our favorite human gathering: the meal!
Together we will create a dinner crafted to tell the stories of everyone gathered at our “table”. Who is represented at our table? How is this demonstrative of our global community? This 10-week class will culminate in a shared meal for the community.