Keeping the Dream Alive
Reflections on the Art of Harriet Lorence Nesbitt
Edited by Jeanne C. DeFazio
Foreword by Julia C. Davis, Olga Soler, Dr. Martha Reyes
Afterword by William David Spencer
Keeping the Dream Alive
Reflections on the Art of Harriet Lorence Nesbitt
Copyright © 2019 Jeanne C. DeFazio. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Resource Publications
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-8428-9
hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-8429-6
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-8430-2
Manufactured in the U.S.A. June 14, 2019
This book is dedicated to Harriet Lorence Nesbitt,award-winning New York City artist, Politics and Such columnist and founder of Mothers for More Halfway Houses.
A true friend who made me want to be a better person.
By the Same Authors
Julia C. Davis
Empowering English Language Learners: Successful Strategies of Christian Educators (contributing author)
Jeanne C. DeFazio
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How to Have an Attitude of Gratitude on the Night Shift (with Teresa Flowers)
Redeeming the Screens: Living Stories of Media “Ministers” Bringing the Message of Jesus Christ to the Entertainment Industry (edited with William David Spencer)
Berkeley Street Theatre: How Improvisation and Street Theater Emerged as Christian Outreach to the Culture of the Time (editor)
Empowering English Language Learners: Successful Strategies of Christian Educators (edited with William David Spencer)
Martha Reyes
Jesús y la Mujer Herida (Jesus and the Wounded Woman)
Jesucristo, Tu Psicólogo Personal (Jesus Is Your Own Personal Psychologist)
Por Que No Soy Feliz (Why Am I Not Happy?)
Olga Soler
Just Don’t Marry One: Interracial Dating, Marriage, and Parenting (contributing author)
Tough Inspirations from the Weeping Prophet
Apocalypse of Youth (Artist Harriet Nesbitt as told to Olga Soler)
Creative Ways to Build Christian Community (contributing author)
Epistle to the Magadalenes (author and illustrator)
Redeeming the Screens: Living Stories of Media “Ministers” Bringing the Message of Jesus Christ to the Entertainment Industry (contributing author)
Berkeley Street Theatre: How Improvisation and Street Theater Emerged as Christian Outreach to the Culture of the Time (contributing author)
The First Book: Nature; The Second Book: Time Travel, Adventure, Romance, Faith; The Third Book: Revelation: Revelations Series
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William David Spencer
Name in the Papers: Eleven Snapshots and a Video (novel)
Mysterium and Mystery: The Minister as Detective in the Clerical Crime Novel
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Redeeming the Screens: Living Stories of Media “Ministers” Bringing the Message of Jesus Christ to the Entertainment Industry (edited with Jeanne C. DeFazio)
God through the Looking Glass: Glimpses from the Arts (edited with Aída Besançon Spencer)
Marriage at the Crossroads: Couples in Conversation about Discipleship, Gender Roles, Decision Making and Intimacy (with Aída Besançon Spencer, Steven R. Tracy, and Celestia G. Tracy)
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The Global God: Multicultural Evangelical Views of God (edited with Aída Besançon Spencer)
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2 Corinthians: A Commentary (with Aída Besançon Spencer)
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Foreword
Julia C. Davis
This book is part of the legacy of Harriet Nesbitt’s son Larry Nesbitt, a young scholar with extraordinary promise. Larry, like many of my students, suffered from a psychological disorder. I firmly believe that each Special Education, ELL, and mainstream student has unique God-given ability which can be nurtured toward success in the correct learning environment. As a Special Education teacher with over thirty years of experience teaching in New York, Maryland, and Washington, DC inner city public schools, I am participating in this dialogue to identify art appreciation as a teaching strategy suited to the learning needs of “at risk” and Special Education students.1
It has been my experiences that Special Education students learn effectively through the arts. Participation in creative arts reduces stress, which in turn enhances the ability to learn. David Graham, in his article “Inclusion Strategies for Mainstreamed Classrooms,” explains: “The environment is the common cause of a broad continuum of mental health problems in students.”2Art therapy can reduce the stress that contributes to mental health problems.
Art appreciation is a successful strategy for teaching Special Education students. In the summer of 2018, as the founder of Education Matters Associates, I developed a program for students and their families to tour The Harvard Semitic Museum’s Israel and Egyptian exhibits. I prepared and distributed resource materials to meet the students’ individual needs. This program engaged English Language Learners, the Special Education student, and the mainstream student.3 Exploring The Harvard Semitic Museum advanced student comprehension of art. Participation in group discussions with Adam Middleton improved students’ ability to follow a multilevel discussion. Question-and-answer time with Adam Middleton improved each student’s ability to use “I” statements to describe art and artifacts, as well as to describe the color, style, and function of art and artifacts. Students’ ability to use appropriate third-person pronouns to describe artwork increased. Group discussion enhanced students’ understanding of art. Touring the Israel and Egyptian