Our Nation’s Generations: Sustainable Cities
Student Exhibition Project
January 27 – April 22, 2012
“Our Nation’s Generations,” launched in 2009, is a unique, multidisciplinary program that partners teachers, schools and the Museum to challenge students to create their own exhibition which is displayed in the Museum’s galleries. The students tour the Fairfield Museum, view the exhibits and respond to an essential question through historical research, inquiry, writing and arts-based activities. The project encourages a broad understanding of family and the students’ role in their communities.
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The students and teachers at McLevy Green in Bridgeport, Conn.
Sustainable Cities: What is your vision for sustainability and positive growth for the city of Bridgeport? How can an abandoned building or empty lot help to change the city for the future?
“Our Nation’s Generations: Sustainable Cities” partnered two schools from Bridgeport and Fairfield with the Fairfield Museum and History Center to challenge students to design and to create proposals for the city of Bridgeport’s urban planning initiatives. Over the past several months, a group of 5th grade students from New Beginnings Family Academy in Bridgeport were partnered with and mentored by 8th grade students from The Unquowa School in Fairfield. The older students mentored the younger urban students in a series of activities that explored the history of the built environment, including the architecture of Bridgeport.
The students also looked to the future and became problem-solvers and urban planners to develop proposals for urban revitalization. The result is a 3 month exhibition that will open on Friday, January 27 showcasing the students’ work to develop sustainable plans for the empty lots and abandoned buildings on upper Main Street in Bridgeport. The exhibit features the students’ innovative ideas, computer models, writing, poetry and photography.
Read More About the Project:
View the Student Group Proposals
5th Grade Student Poems
8th Grade Student Poems
Introduction and Background History
Working Together! About the Process
An Eye for Inspiration: The Artists and Historian Team
