Mother Caroline Students
Step Into Art and Mother Caroline Academy are proud to present this exhibition of art and writing created by sixth graders participating in our annual partnership program, now celebrating its 16th year.
Respond to the Textile Portraits of Artist Gio Swaby
Gutman Library, Harvard Graduate School of Education
March 31 – April 21, 2024
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Step Into Art & Mother Caroline Academy
Step Into Art is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing art education programs that actively engage children with great works of art from museums in and around Boston. Step Into Art programs take place through partnerships with Boston schools.
Mother Caroline Academy and Education Center is the only tuition-free, all-girls independent elementary and middle school in the City of Boston. Mother Caroline Academy has been transforming the lives of girls from traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods for 30 years.
Every year since 2008, Step Into Art and Mother Caroline Academy have been working together to offer a rich, year-long arts learning experience for sixth-grade students. Designed by Step Into Art, the program includes art-viewing, art-making, writing, and public speaking, and culminates in an exhibition each year. We are grateful to Gutman Library for hosting our 2024 show, our first public exhibition since the pandemic.
Enjoy the students’ creativity—
Step Into Art with us!
Sixteen years of creative partnership
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Self-Portraits Inspired by Gio Swaby
In this year’s Step Into Art program, Mother Caroline sixth graders had the extraordinary opportunity to engage with the work of contemporary Bahamian artist Gio Swaby. The program began with a visit to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the solo exhibition, Gio Swaby: Fresh Up. Swaby describes her textile portraits as ”love letters to Black women and Black girls.” In the students’ own words, they “absolutely loved her work.”
Inspired by sessions of art-viewing and discussion at the museum and at school, and subsequently by the amazing experience of meeting with the artist virtually in her studio, the students went on to create intricate, meaningful self-portraits of their own. The students’ portraits are modeled on Swaby’s series, Going Out Clothes. They also pay tribute to portraits of her three sisters – Love Letters. In the spirit of Swaby’s work, the students’ self-portraits honor individuality and personal style, and express feelings of love, joy, and gratitude as part of the creative process.
The sixth graders composed reflective artist statements to accompany their portraits. Together, the students’ art and writing might be viewed as their own collection of “love letters.” And like the show by Gio Swaby that inspired the students so deeply, this group of portraits represents a sisterhood. We hope you feel the love and community spirit here as you take in this exhibition.
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Inspiration and the Artistic Process
The Mother Caroline students’ self-portraits were specifically modeled on Gio Swaby’s series, Going Out Clothes, a trio of oval portraits trimmed in lace that celebrate personal style. While paying tribute to Swaby’s incredible skill with fabric and thread, sewing and embroidery, the students used different materials and techniques to create their portraits.
Starting with a “dress-down day” at school, the students posed for photos wearing expressive outfits of their choice in place of their school uniforms. From the resulting photos, they created intricate line drawings. They used patterned scrapbook paper to collage clothing, acrylic paints for the background color, chalk pastels for skin and hair, and texture-rich embellishments for accessories. Emulating an evocative feature of Swaby’s sewn portraits, the students included loose threads – a celebration of the beauty that lies in imperfection.
Going Out Clothes 1, 2020 Going Out Clothes, 2, 2020 Going Out Clothes, 3, 2020
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Angelissa, Shimmer Blue — for myself
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ARTIST: Angelissa
TITLE: Shimmer Blue -- for myself
In my portrait, I'm wearing a hoodie and some pants. For my hoodie I chose light blue because it looked good, and for my pants I chose navy blue kind of because it went with the hoodie. My favorite accessory is my bracelets because they hold memories. My portrait expresses my style and what outfit I like to wear, which is some comfy stuff. What brought me joy was when I was painting my canvas. The part that was especially fun was cutting out the pattern. The part that was challenging was cutting out the clothing. The thing that I'm most proud of is my hoodie. I want people to imagine a walk in the park on a sunny day. This portrait is dedicated to myself. I'm grateful to all my friends and family for all that I'm becoming. The things that I loved most in Gio Swaby’s portraits were the threads. They inspired me because it looked good based on how they were hanging and I thought it looked cool.
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Saika, Flowers for Myself
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ARTIST: Saika
TITLE: Flowers for Myself
In my portrait, I am wearing green and pale green with flower designs. I am wearing a necklace, a bracelet, a ring, and earrings that are shaped like a heart. I really like the color green. It reminds me of nature when I go outside and smell the good scent. I loved the pattern I chose because of the design -- it feels tropical. My favorite accessory is the necklace that reminds me of my mom. She wears it all the time when she goes out. My favorite memory in these clothes was in the summer, visiting my aunt in New York. One of the things that was challenging for me was when I was searching for clothes and finding my skin tone which was very difficult. The background I have is silver sand. It is beautiful, it makes me happy and very joyful. What I love about Gio Swaby’s work is how radiant and detailed she is -- from the hair, to the jewelry, to the skin.
When you look at my portrait I want you to come closer and notice the details. The flowers hold significance because every time I would go out I would pick a flower for my mother and I love the smell of them. I dedicate this portrait to my mother because she always makes life fun with her colors and jewelry.
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Samariah, For Myself
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ARTIST: Samariah
TITLE: For Myself
In my portrait, I am wearing a black sweater and blue jeans. I chose these colors because I like the color blue and I think it’s a really pretty color in my opinion. I'm wearing these visor glasses, but I wanted the color to stand out so I picked pink gemstones. My favorite part of my portrait is my pink glasses because my mom’s favorite color is pink. What my portrait expresses about me is that I'm a strong, confident, beautiful, black young woman.
It was challenging to measure my clothing onto my body and get the sizing right. At first, I measured everything correctly but as soon as it got to my upper body, it started to become difficult. The problem was that my sweater was way too big for my body. I had to cut and re-glue my head because it was too big. I got help from my teacher and she helped me fix the sizing, and now it fits way better. When you look at this portrait, I want you to feel the excitement I felt making this. The person who inspired me to make this portrait is my mom because she always wants me to be the best version of myself. That's why I chose my title to be “for myself.” I want to dedicate this portrait to her because she is the one who made me into the beautiful young woman I am.
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Liliana, Summertime Fun
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ARTIST: Liliana
TITLE: Summer Time Fun
In my portrait, what I chose to wear was gold and purplish colors to match my background. And the pattern I chose was more of a flower vibe to add a cute little touch. My favorite accessory was my shirt because of the loose threads and my scrunchies because of the decorations on them. The portrait expresses my creativity. And the process I enjoyed the most was being able to express myself through art. But cutting the fabric was pretty difficult because of the texture. I'm most proud of my color choices and how I made sure the colors and patterns match how I felt when posing, decorating, and brainstorming ideas for my portrait. What I imagine in these “going out clothes" is me out somewhere fun like a fair during the summer time with a group of my closest friends. When the viewer looks at my portrait, I hope for them to imagine a fun time in the summer. I would like to dedicate this portrait to myself because of how hard I worked on it and how long I worked on it. And I'm grateful for my mother because I wouldn't be here without her. In my portrait, I love the loose threads the most because I feel like the loose threads represent how life isn't perfect but you can still have fun and be happy. What inspired me is how Gio Swaby started art and fashion because of her mom working hard and her watching that.
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Love, Black and White — for myself
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ARTIST: Love
TITLE: Black and White -- for myself
In this portrait I am wearing a black shirt with my Tommy Hilfiger sweater along with black cargos and my panda dunks. I chose the original outfit because I felt confident when I wore it. I chose the patterns because they matched the original outfit, and the patterns just really looked good to me. I really had fun making this project with my friends. One part I really enjoyed while making this project was trying to find my exact skin color. It was really hard to find my skin color, not only for me, but for my friends and other people in my class. I did find my skin color eventually and was really satisfied with the results. My accessories made my outfit better. I like my glasses that my cousin gifted me, but my bracelets are not seen in the portrait. This portrait really challenged my patience, and I'm impressed by how this project turned out. I dedicated this portrait to myself because I worked hard to make it, and I'm proud of myself for doing so.
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Amelia, Childhood Dream
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ARTIST: Amelia
TITLE: Childhood Dream
In my portrait, I am wearing a floral hoodie and pink patterned cargo jeans. The patterns I chose are meant to represent me when I was younger and how differently I acted. Ever since I've entered middle school it's been a struggle. I've been talked about, threatened, lied to, and so much more, but when I was younger these thoughts were never in my mind. I always loved being with my family. When I look back at old family photos, I think about how simple my life was.
Something that is special in my painting is my necklace. My mom and dad had bought me a pink and silver necklace that I never took off until one day it had broken and I had started wearing gold jewelry. In these going out clothes I imagine walking in the park. I dedicate this to my mom. She gives me the motivation for everything.
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Abby, The Life of an Artist
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ARTIST: Abby
TITLE: The Life of an Artist
I am wearing a blue flower shirt and lime green pants in my art piece. I don't know why I chose to wear this. It just felt right. My favorite accessory in my art is my bracelet that me and my bff made to match with. My portrait expresses that I love art, I'm creative, and I love the color blue. Making loose strands on my portrait was very fun. For me, what I found hard to do during the process was getting the right skin tones and hair colors; it was just all very new for me. I dedicate this portrait to my mom who gave me life. I am very grateful to her. In Gio Swaby’s art, I loved how each thread showed and gave her portraits emotions. The loose strands in Gio Swaby’s art was my favorite because instead of just focusing on the perfect parts sometimes the messiness of it is the real perfect part.
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Zama, Zama in Love with Blue — for myself
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ARTIST: Zama
TITLE: Zama in Love with Blue -- for myself
In this portrait I'm wearing blue and white. My favorite accessory is my earrings because my mom got them for me when I was little. What brought me joy was the lace. I liked the bling on the lace and the texture. What was challenging for me is all of it, especially finding my skin tone but I figured it out. I imagine going out to eat in these clothes. I want the viewer to imagine dinner at Eddie V’s Seafood Restaurant. This is dedicated to myself. I'm grateful for my mom. I love Gio Swaby’s color scheme. In my portrait, I am wearing a tee shirt and jeans. I love the colors because they are my favorite colors. I was holding up a shoe because I’m a sneakerhead. When you look at my portrait, I want you to feel calm. My portrait is a love letter to myself -- I dedicate this portrait to myself. When you look at my portrait, I hope you imagine the ocean.
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Rylee, Movie Day!
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ARTIST: Rylee
TITLE: Movie Day!
In my portrait I am wearing a blue sweater with flower printing and sparkly gray pants. As you may see, my hair is in a high ponytail (that's my favorite hairstyle!). The striped line on my sweater defines my favorite colors (gray and white). My favorite accessory is my glasses that stand out to represent my grandma because she always loves to wear her glasses. So, of course, I love to wear mine!! My background is pink because my mom loves pink and because I wanted a unique portrait with different colors. I would always love to wear this outfit out to the movies, to hang out with my friends, or go to the mall. The biggest challenge for me was cutting everything out and making it fit on my portrait, but I handled that like the star I am. If you look close enough you will see that I have a snowflake gem on my glasses because that's what makes my glasses stand out! I chose the color blue for my top because blue is my favorite color no matter what!
When you look at my portrait, I want you to imagine a girl striving her way through life while having fun. I dedicate this portrait to my mother and grandma for being there for me no matter what and having a great attitude. My portrait is a love letter for my grandma and mom.
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Golnesa, The Girl in the Hijab
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ARTIST: Golnesa
TITLE: The Girl in the Hijab
I am wearing a blue shirt with flowers and white pants with gold on them. I am also wearing a very fancy hijab and a light purple sweater with plants on them. My favorite accessory is that I added a nose ring because my mom wears a nose ring and I want to be like her. What my portrait expresses about me is that I am a smart, beautiful, black, Muslim girl. The part of the process that was fun was when I was taking the pictures because I really enjoyed it. My portrait is a love letter to my mom because I look a lot like her, so I wanted myself to look like her. What inspired me is how Gio Swaby made pictures of her sisters and how she used a lot of patterns. What I love most about Gio Swaby’s portraits is that I loved how she put a lot of time and hard work to make the little details with thread and fabric. I want the viewer to imagine a movie night out with friends and laughter.
I would like to dedicate my portrait to my mom because I look a lot like her. I am grateful for my family because they helped me come all this way and helped me become the person that I am today.
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Naoki (Kiki), Kiki in the Sky Blue
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ARTIST: Naoki (Kiki)
TITLE: Kiki in the Sky Blue
In my portrait, I am wearing a blue sweater and purple pants. I love those colors because they are my fav colors, and they express myself. I chose the patterns because it is the style that looks good, and I feel like it matches my energy. My favorite accessory is my earrings because it reminds me of my mom and grandma. They are special to me because they have been in my life for so long and always stick with me and always help me if I ask for help. In these going out clothes that I am wearing in my portrait, I see myself going inside a mall, park, ice cream place, trampoline park, and anywhere else. One of hardest challenges that I had to work on is that I had to believe in myself to like my portrait because at first I didn’t like it, but now love it. What brought me joy was that people kept on saying they love my portrait and that I kept on trying. That is what brought me joy.
When you look at my portrait, I want you to hear me feel how much effort I put into this and saying that I am beautiful just the way I am. When you look at my portrait, I want you to feel me dancing, going out with these clothes, and me just being myself. When you look at my portrait, I hope you imagine me doing everything I could do and me having so much fun. Come closer and notice that I put so much effort into this and I worked hard. I dedicate my portrait to my mother with gratitude for being in my life and being a good role model. My portrait is a love letter to my mother.
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Sherline, Like My Mother
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ARTIST: Sherline
TITLE: Like My Mother
In my portrait, I am wearing a shirt and pants. I love the color purple, and my mother likes it, too. I love everything I did in my portrait. I made a portrait that reminds me of how much I look like my mother. That’s why I love my portrait. In these “going out clothes,” I imagine myself at a party, because the way I dress, I see myself at a party. One of the biggest challenges I had in working on this portrait was when I was coloring because it was difficult finding my right shade but I finished. That made me happy because I finally rose to a challenge. What also made me happy since I started was my friends saying it’s nice, and so did the teachers. I dedicate this portrait to my Mother and in gratitude to her I made this for her. I love my Mother -- we have many similarities.
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Talia, Blue Flowers — for myself
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ARTIST: Talia
TITLE: Blue Flowers -- for myself
I have a blue sweater with flowers and blue pants with some other flowers because I love flowers and I love the color blue. My favorite accessory is my glasses with the gems because my favorite color is blue and I love when the gems gleam in the bright light. I LOVE blue, as you can see. Blue is my favorite because it represents the blue sky and I also just like blue in general, and I like to bedazzle my art work. I enjoyed putting on lace around my portrait because it's really pretty with colorful little sparkles. The hardest part in making my portrait was cutting out my pants and shirt stencil. Because of my braids, it made it a lot harder. I'm just proud of my portrait. I hope Harvard really enjoys overlooking my work, and I hope they notice and do not miss that I love blue. In these “going out clothes,” I imagine going to a color party where I was chosen to be the color blue, and I take it to the next level with blue. I take blue to heart and bedazzle my outfit. I’d like to dedicate this portrait my mom and my household for teaching me about who I am and supporting me when I need it. I love that Gio Swaby leaves all of the loose strings when she uses fabric and that she didn't pick up the machine at all. She could have cut off the excess but she didn't. And I love that. Her portraits were all so pretty, and the threads on her work show how she didn’t pick up her machine for fabric and just overlapped it to make her art. I want to name my portrait “BLUE FLOWERS” because my favorite color is blue, and I love flowers, so I just put them together and make blue flowers.
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Milani, My Future Self
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ARTIST: Milani
TITLE: My Future Self
In my portrait I am wearing mostly a variety of blue because blue is my favorite color and a really calming color. And the pattern I'm wearing just stood out to me. My favorite accessory in my portrait is the pearls around the portrait. The special meaning behind them is my grandma because she always wears pearls, and she gave me a set of pearls when I was younger, and I still have them. What this portrait expresses about me is that on the outside people say that I'm loud, and I am. But on the inside, I am a very quiet person. And the color blue kinda represents that. The joy it brought me was I got to get to work with my friends and get feedback on how to make it better, and I got to give them feedback, too. And the most exciting part was the embellishments. One thing that was challenging was getting past the flaws about my portrait because I didn't really like some of the stuff on my portrait and learned that not everything is perfect. The thing I don't want people to miss is the pearls, because like I said before, they are really special to me. In these “going out clothes”, I imagine going to the mall with my friends. I would like to dedicate this portrait to my grandma. I am grateful for my mom and my grandma because they have taught me a lot of life lessons that I can use when I'm older. One thing I like about Gio Swaby’s portraits is that all of her portraits come from real life moments, and the yarn is hanging down to tell other people that this is her portrait. What inspired me was that she started at a young age and she's not afraid to show her mistakes.
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Phoenix, Pretty Flame — for myself
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ARTIST: Phoenix
TITLE: Pretty Flame -- for myself
I am wearing a red shirt with gold gemstones on it. I am also wearing green pants with a flower pattern. I chose them because I really like the sparkles in the gemstones. I really like the flowers because they look really nice. The colors are really pretty and I like the shades of them. My favorite accessory is my bracelet because my best friend Abby gave it to me. My portrait expresses that I love flowers and gemstones and myself. I liked picking the paper because I got cool ones. What was challenging about it was when we were finding colors for our skin and hair. I am proud that I found my skin and hair color and it actually looks like me. I want people to notice the patterns and colors. In these clothes, I imagine going to a Christmas party. I am with friends and family having fun. I want to dedicate my portrait to myself because it shows me. I am grateful to my family. In Gio Swaby’s portraits, I love the loose threads. They look very nice to me. Some people might think that was a mistake or a mess-up, but I think it is cool and is a nice design.
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Abigail, Aesthetic Shimmer — for My Mom
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ARTIST: Abigail
TITLE: Aesthetic Shimmer -- for My Mom
In my portrait, the colors I'm wearing are blue and pink. The patterned shirt I'm wearing is a spiral, rose flower that’s teal and blue, and the patterned pants I'm wearing are a bouquet spiral in pink and red. My favorite accessories in my portrait are the bracelet and ring. The ring is REALLY pretty, and rings mean a lot to me. The bracelet is my favorite jewelry. I love wearing bracelets on my wrist. My portrait expresses me going to fancy places and birthday parties because every time I go out somewhere I always want to wear pretty colors of shimmering clothes! What brought me joy creating this project and what was really fun was me putting on gemstones to make jewels for my rings and bracelet, and painting the background of my portrait. I want viewers to imagine themselves wearing these clothes, and I want the viewer to feel comfortable and happy. I want to dedicate this portrait to my lovely mom because she loves to wear these types of colors. Sometimes we match and go out. She loves jewelry just like me. That is what explains the bracelet and the ring. I'm grateful for my mom because she put me in a great private school. I'm really grateful for her and what I'm becoming -- a good student and child. What I love about Gio Swaby’s portraits is that she puts a hard effort into her portraits. The way she did that was amazing! And the thread that was hanging on the portraits was beautiful. My portrait took hours to complete. It also looks like a real-life person. What especially inspired me about Gio Swaby’s art was how she expressed herself going out with these clothes. Gio Swaby has a great talent, and this is why she inspired me.
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Postcards: With Love & Gratitude
Mother Caroline sixth graders created these portraits infused with love and gratitude following the example of Gio Swaby. As you take in this exhibition, we would also like to invite you to reflect and create. Write a postcard to express your love and gratitude to someone special in your life, or share a message of appreciation with the sixth-grade artists in this exhibition! Notes for the students can be placed in the box provided.
Step Into Art with us!
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With Appreciation
The Step Into Art partnership program with Mother Caroline Academy represents a true collaboration, and many contributed to this shared endeavor. From Step Into Art: Abby Rischin, Founder and President; Lindsey Kocur, Visual Art Manager; Susan Foster Jones, Senior Educator; and Hannah Varden, Artist-Educator. From Mother Caroline Academy: Kiera Powers, Art Teacher and Assistant Director of Development; Michaela Brotman, Upper School English Language Arts Teacher; and Marie Louise Greenidge, Director of Development and Interim Head of School.
Gio Swaby provided inspiration to the students not only through her art but also by meeting with them virtually and sharing her joyful vision. She has our immense gratitude. We also greatly appreciate the warm welcome we received at the Peabody Essex Museum.
Step Into Art and Mother Caroline Academy are grateful to be holding this exhibition in Gutman Gallery at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Special thanks to Myanne Krivoshey, Communications and Administration Coordinator, Gutman Library, HGSE. Generous supporters made this program and exhibition possible. Our deep gratitude to them. Finally, we thank you for giving the students a true audience for their creative work.
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