Fine Arts students on the move

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Twenty students in Fine Arts classes at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) helped prepare the newly renovated Jean P. Haydon Museum for its re-opening in late August, and several weeks later they participated in a Filmmakers Convening workshop hosted by Pacific Islanders in Communication.

The students came from the classes Art History Survey I (ART 150), Design Fundamentals (ART 160), and Art Forms of Samoa and the Pacific (ART161), all taught by artist Regina Meredith-Fitiao.

In addition to her classroom duties, Meredith-Fitiao worked alongside First Lady Cynthia Malala Moliga of the Friends of the Museum, local Curator Erika Radewagen and Executive Director of the Arts Council Mary Taufete’e to organize the museum’s re-opening.

“My students helped get the shelves of artifacts in place for the opening ceremony,” explained Meredith-Fitiao. “This gave them an immersion in the collection of items that have valuable meaning and history. We also discussed how Mrs. Jean P. Haydon, her husband Governor John Haydon, and Pulefaasisina Palauni Tuiasosopo, among others, initiated the museum for the benefit of our community.”

Meredith-Fitiao emphasized how projects like assisting the Museum bring real experience to classroom content.

“Art 161 allows students to engage in practical work like siapo making and its process,” she said. “Going to the Museum and seeing a siapo mamanu made in the 1980s by the late Mary J. Pritchard, who played an integral role in perpetuating tapa making locally and sharing it everywhere possible, confirmed to students how precious the art form is, both past and present.”

At the PIC Filmmakers Convening workshop held in September at the Tauese P. Sunia Ocean Center, PIC Executicve Director Leanne Ferrer and Director of Program Development and Content Strategy Cheryl Hirasa talked about PIC’s promotion of filmmaking as a creative medium for Pacific islanders to share their stories.

They screened different short films and explained the application process for filmmakers seeking support.

A variety of community members took advantage of the event, ranging from those brand new to the medium to others already experienced with it. “