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Abstract
Exploring the questions “What can one elementary art teacher learn about the
perspectives and desires of students and families in her rural school community through family
artmaking workshops that promote dialogue related to place and belonging?” and “What role
does artmaking play in these dialogues?,” I designed and implemented a case study through a
series of three workshops for parents and caregivers of students at the school where I teach,
Hurricane Shoals Elementary School. Each session invited participants to join me, the art
teacher, in learning a simple art technique inspired by their interests while participating in a
semi-structured conversation on the ideas of place and belonging in our school community. Data
sources included my written observations, photographs, video and audio recordings of each
session, and artworks produced by the participants. Three main findings about the topic of
belonging emerged from the data, along with insights about the role of the artmaking and
implications for other educators in rural school communities concerned with meaningful
approaches to family engagement.