Peralta and Hoover Elementary Schools: Quilting Peace of Mind

Peralta and Hoover Elementary Schools:
Quilting Peace of Mind

Peralta is a culturally diverse kindergarten through fifth-grade urban elementary school in North Oakland, California. Peralta is committed to the arts and has a solid record of academic achievement. Peralta received a Title One Achievement Award In 2006, a California Distinguished School Award in 2010, and has the distinction of being a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School. Peralta has a strong commitment to helping students explore ways to care for their neighborhood and community through partnership with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) Adult Day Care Center. Through the arts, Peralta students are able to experience opportunities that make meaningful and lasting influences on their community as they deepen their respect and compassion for others. Student projects include video productions that explore environmental appreciation and stewardship and public quilt-making events and exhibitions in local hospitals, libraries, offices, and also at the American Embassy in Moscow.

The quilts on exhibition document the partnership of Peralta and Hoover Elementary Schools with BACS Adult Day Care at the North Oakland Senior Center. Working with artist-in-residence Ellen Oppenheimer, fourth-grade students from Hoover and fifth-grade students from Peralta create quilts that strengthen their relationships with seniors affected by memory loss. Students work one-on-one with seniors sharing a range of visual-art experiences including paper-puppet making, origami, quilting, creating musical instruments, and choir singing.

Art is an ideal medium to foster profound and meaningful relationships between students and seniors. First-hand experience with art’s potential for healing and transformation gives young artists insightful knowledge and skills to navigate the aging process in positive ways.

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