Ninth grade literature teacher brings artist-in-residence to The School at Marygrove

Chandrika D. Williams (AB '02, MA '19), a ninth grade literature teacher at The School at Marygrove, also teaches an elective on art and activism. This semester, she invited Detroit artist and founder of the non-profit Live Coal, Yvette Rock (MFA ’99), to her class as an artist-in-residence. Rock showed the students a video of an artist who had created a George Floyd mural that has gotten a lot of exposure. She equipped them with art supplies and wooden figures to create self portraits. She also provided encouragement. 

“Yvette Rock brings authenticity to this course because her experiences are authentic,” Williams said. “I think that when they see that if something doesn’t go right, whether it’s in art or in life, they have the power and the capacity to go back and look at it and blur the lines a little bit and try again. You have the opportunity in life and in art to try again and to revise and to perfect and to just create.”

Lia Benning, an 11th grader at Marygrove, said she found Rock’s humble approach inspiring.

“I thought what she said was very important and inspirational because I feel like for people who aren’t artists, they might not see art as important or life changing as like other professions,” she said. “I think she wants to let us know that art is a tool that can be used in many different ways. Doing art for me is kind of like a way of relieving stress. It also makes me feel creative and important because I feel like it is so nice to see something come to life after working on it.”