The American Experience

The Meaning

Viewers are meant to observe the sweep of history from east to west across our continent and to observe the interplay of words with the images to create meaning.  Observe the following:  Betsy Ross and the American flag in the northeast, the Civil War cannon breaking the chaines of oppression in the south, the buffalo constructed using a design that is reminscent of Native American designs, the dustbowl images, and the California goldrush images.  

The Process

The concept for this piece was created by students in the American Experience class during the 2014-2015 school year.  It was then designed in collaboration with Lisa Leibering.  The students broke into groups with each group creating one of the five sections represented on the map.  The groups then traced the design onto the wood and used wood burning tools to burn the images into the wood.