Fronteras art students create Alfombra de Aserrins for Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15 marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, a month-long annual observation for recognizing the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the nation's achievements, culture, and history.

As part of their celebration, fourth and fifth grade artists from Fronteras Spanish Immersion Charter School recently created a 120-foot long alfombra de Aserrin, also called sawdust carpet.

Alfombra de Aserrins are comprised of one or more layers of colored sawdust, and sometimes other additional materials, laid on the ground as decoration. Sawdust carpets are traditionally created to greet a religious procession that walks over them.

While traditionally the colorful sawdust rugs are created and rolled out for Holy Week in Guatemala, the vibrant tradition was first introduced in 1524, when the Spanish conquistadors traveled from newly conquered Mexico to invade Guatemala. With them, the soldiers brought along their tradition of creating the carpets.

In Mexico, the carpets are a traditional part of the celebration for Dia de los Muertos, often depicting images of death and the transition from life to the afterlife. Over the years, the originally religious tradition has also become more inclusive, with non-Christians joining in the celebration.

The inspiration for the project came from MaryCarmen Hernandez, a Spanish tutor at Fronteras, who explained that it is important to carry on traditional parts of the Latin culture.

“This project is about part of the culture in Latin America and the kids learn about the cultures in the different Latin countries-the food, the clothing, the dancing. And for me, I’m so proud to show this, and the kids enjoyed it a lot.”

The students have been working on the project since the beginning of the school year. “When I suggested the idea, it was to show something to the kids something else about us, and the kids accepted it with lots of love and excitement. And through this, they have learned quite a lot,” said Hernandez, who says that when she was little, the Alfombra de Aserrins were a family project and each family member would contribute, showing something about their family.

To give the sawdust rugs a decidedly more unique feel, the students created Alaskan-themed designs, blending what they learned about the traditional art form from Mexico and Guatemala to create their own 5' by 5' alfombras. In addition to using Alaskan imagery, the students worked in groups to create stencils and designs, collaborating on colors and layouts, before projecting the designs onto the large plastic canvases.

Using approximately 400 pounds of dyed sawdust in a rainbow of colors, the students then worked to place the sawdust by hand, blending, and occasionally having to improvise when colors ran short.

“We blended this traditional art form from Mexico and Guatemala with our own unique Alaskan culture, as seen in the kids’ designs: Xtra Tuffs, moose, eagles, sled dogs and musher and more! I’m so proud of these kids!” said Fronteras Art Teacher Shelli Franckowiak.

Other group creations included a Forget-Me-Not in honor of the state’s flower, a silhouette of a dog musher and his team, a log cabin, a representation of Alaska, and of course, Alaskan wildlife.

“There’s a lot of foxes in Alaska, so we chose the fox. We wanted to bring out the beauty, so we have the silhouette of the mountains as it’s running through the meadow,” explained Forrest Buckley, who is in the 5th grade.

“It’s also both night and day in Alaska,” added Willow Duncan, also in the 5th grade, explaining the different pieces of their design.

“We wanted to do a fish, but because others were doing salmon, we chose a rainbow trout,” said 5th grader Starla Collins who said that their project needed the right shade of pinks, reds and oranges. “It’s turning out pretty good.”

“We’re making the mountains and the trees, but our main idea is the Big Dipper, which is going to stick out with its yellow glow, while the mountains and trees are just a little extra,” said 5th grader Wyatt Koski, Mountains and trees were a popular choice for backdrops in many of the sawdust carpets. “When we first picked our ideas, we all really liked the landscape, and we have the sun and clouds, and added a lake,” explained 4th grader Maryn Menashe, whose group created a brilliant sunrise over the mountains.

Of course, there were a few iconic images that some young artists felt were just too much, so changes were made in their original designs.

“I was originally going to do the mountains, but I realized too many people were already doing that. My dog has a lot of energy in him and has some husky in him, and I wanted to bring out the husky because that’s what Alaska is known for, and this is something everyone would know about,” said 4th grader Gus Taggart. “But I still had to add mountains because, well, Alaska.”

While the sawdust carpets are usually created to greet a religious procession that walks over them, the students themselves got to walk over the carpets the following day.

This is not the first time students at Fronteras created the pieces of art. Students did this same project two years ago, and in a full circle moment for some of the students who watched students back then create the same project.

“The kids here were surprised at what they could create something using their imaginations and sawdust.”