Last fall at Yavneh Academy, I worked with students and fellow arts teachers to create "Mindburst," a week-long interactive multi-media art installation. It featured artwork by the students, videos from the film class and music ensemble, and creative writing by my class. I visited hardware stores all over Dallas to collect hundreds of paint sample cards, which we stapled to strings to create cascades of color. We decorated the atrium with bright explosions of tissue paper and strands of ribbon, and strung colored yarn to the hammers of a disembodied piano mechanism. The exhibit invited students to respond to what they saw. Pens were available for people to respond to colors by writing directly on the cards, and two vintage typewriters sat before large portraits, where students could contribute to ongoing stories. Students wrote and posted descriptions of what they saw in a kaleidoscope, created magnetic poems along the steel beams, and added to large Keith Haring inspired chalk drawings.
