An 18th-century French map was the inspiration for a painting produced by three Holy Innocents’ students that will be featured at the exhibition “Putting the U.S. Southeast on the Map,” Oct. 29-Nov. 30 on the Georgia Tech campus. The exhibition—part of the annual Festival France-Atlanta is sponsored by the Consulate General of France in Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology and focuses on cooperation between France and the Southeastern United States.
Holy Innocents' Episcopal School students Jack Sullivan, Evan Thomas, and Isabella Vear, under the guidance of art teacher Charles Watson, created the painting, Métamorphose, after drawing inspiration from one map in a unique French collection of antique Southeastern U.S. maps. The maps are housed in a collection in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Copies of the maps will also be on display.
“It is a great piece, and we are very happy to count HIES as part of our annual Festival France-Atlanta,” said Aurélie Surblé, Deputy Cultural Attaché, Educational and University Affairs, at the Consulate General of France in Atlanta. Holy Innocents’ is one of four Metro Atlanta schools selected to participate in this year’s education art project.
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The three HIES students specifically were inspired by the 18th-century map L’Amérique Septentrionale Divisée en ses Principaux Etats, which translates as North America Divided into its Principal States. Their own work of art was done as a pencil drawing and then underpainted with acrylic paint. Students also worked on the piece with spray paint and handmade stencils, oil pastels, writings hand-done in white acrylic, and collage techniques. Students were asked not only to use a map for inspiration but also to incorporate French words into their artwork.
The public is invited to the exhibition’s opening night on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. in the Stubbins Gallery at Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture.
