RESIDENCIES

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RESIDENCIES
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Mr. Taylor began the artist residency with two
assemblies for the elementary school children
introducing them to the Australian culture of the
cities where he was raised and the outback
culture of the Aborigines.
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The sound of Australia is the didgeridoo.
Students learned how they were made from
eucalyptus trees eaten out by termites and then
decorated in traditional Aboriginal designs.
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Paul introduced them to a character that could
have been his ancestor and told about the British
subjects that were sent to Australia instead of
prison for crimes even as minimal as stealing a
loaf of bread. Much of the white population of
Australia had descended from the British.
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The third grade classes that had been learning of
countries around the world, learned skits and
dances from Mr. Taylor.
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By learning the skits, the children investigated
many of the animals and customs of the Australian
people. Art is integrated into their culture as
a tool to teach about life.
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The students learned some dances that Mr. Taylor
knew from elementary school in Australia. The
entertainment planned for the culminating
community concert would include the childrens
performance in the tradition of how the community
entertains by participation.
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Try a little vegemite? Mate.
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The after-school program students were given PVC
pipe to make their own didgeridoos. They
painted them with dot pattern designs
representing important people in their lives.
Then they learned how to play them.
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Mr. Taylor describes buzzing your lips and
circular breathing techniques. The didgeridoo
orchestra was born.
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A core group of students from the high school
advanced art class learned Australian Aborigine
history, creation stories and animals as they
designed their morphed Rainbow Snake mural. The
Aborigine style of dot and line patterns and
X-ray vision were guides for their group
creation.
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Working in the classroom allowed the students to
meet Mr. Taylor personally and learn of his
desire to save the Aboriginal stories and share
them in this culture. They enjoyed his
enthusiasm, stories and accent. Daily hed wear
different outfits from his past. This was a
football uniform.
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Paul explained how as a youngster he had to wear
a blazer, shorts and a hat as a school uniform in
Adelaide.
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At the nursing home they listened to the
didgeridoo, learned some stories from the bush
university, even the true story behind Waltzing
Matilda. Most sang along and some danced a
little.
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During the week the community had the opportunity
to hear of the Aboriginal culture and
storytelling at The Eureka Bookstore. At the
community assembly, Mr. Taylor welcomed the
audience to an evening of entertainment with
song, storytelling, and skits including the third
grade.
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The completed Rainbow Snake mural hung in the
background for the skits the students performed
of the Aboriginal creation stories. This one was
of a young girl that danced in the early morning
and was changed into the dancing bird the Aussies
call Brolga.
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Lounging kangaroos.
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The final performance of the didgeridoo
orchestra, March 2003, Eureka Public School.
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Thanks to Paul Taylor for sharing his wealth of
information and talent teaching and training our
students and community about the culture from
down under. No worries, mate.
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And thanks to the Montana Arts Council for an
Artist in Residency Grant, Montana Arts
Consortium for the Performing Arts Grant and
Westaf, the Western States Arts Federation, that
grant money for promoting the arts in rural
communities.