The Ärgerverschlinger by Fusaro at home in first grade.
GOOD NEWS: A wonderful series of coincidences have occurred following a first grade class' field trip to the HOPE exhibition and ArtLab at ESMoA, the El Segundo Museum of Art, El Segundo, CA, this past October 2017. As part of this trip the students participated in the ArtLab by decorating their own Hope Boxes.
A Hope Box is any container with an opening. You write your present problem, desire, goal, or hard-to-make decision on a small piece of paper. Then fold it up and put it in your Hope box. In essence, turning it over to a Higher Power.
When this class’ teacher Mrs. Jan Glusac of El Rincon Elementary School, Culver City, CA, shared the students’ Hope Boxes with Los Angeles artist Darrell Fusaro, he was blown away. Ironically, he had just written an article for Daily Word magazine titled, "What is a God Box?" His article coincided perfectly with the Hope Boxes that the first graders had made.
Since Fusaro regularly volunteers to do art activities with this class he and Mrs. Glusac decided to create the "Our Hope Can" with the kids; a classroom Hope Can that the students may use during school days. To decorate the outside of the can each student contributed an image they drew that made them feel good. They did this to reinforce Fusaro’s emphasis that Joy is the activating power that attracts better than expected results. It’s obviously true. The students rely upon “Our Hope Can” regularly. It ignites a joyous expectancy in students towards their hopes, wishes, desires, and goals.
A Hope Box is any container with an opening. You write your present problem, desire, goal, or hard-to-make decision on a small piece of paper. Then fold it up and put it in your Hope box. In essence, turning it over to a Higher Power.
When this class’ teacher Mrs. Jan Glusac of El Rincon Elementary School, Culver City, CA, shared the students’ Hope Boxes with Los Angeles artist Darrell Fusaro, he was blown away. Ironically, he had just written an article for Daily Word magazine titled, "What is a God Box?" His article coincided perfectly with the Hope Boxes that the first graders had made.
Since Fusaro regularly volunteers to do art activities with this class he and Mrs. Glusac decided to create the "Our Hope Can" with the kids; a classroom Hope Can that the students may use during school days. To decorate the outside of the can each student contributed an image they drew that made them feel good. They did this to reinforce Fusaro’s emphasis that Joy is the activating power that attracts better than expected results. It’s obviously true. The students rely upon “Our Hope Can” regularly. It ignites a joyous expectancy in students towards their hopes, wishes, desires, and goals.
"Our hope can" in the classroom
But wait–that’s not all! What about all of the students' unfriendly thoughts, i.e. frustration, worry, envy, self-pity, self-doubt, etc.? Fusaro came up with a solution; the "Argerverschlinger" (pronounced, “Air-ver-ger-schling-er”, it’s a compound German word he made up meaning "problem devourer"). The students write down their unfriendly thoughts on a piece of paper and feed them to this creature contraption he created. They insert their current unfriendly thought into the Ärgerverschlinger’s mouth, turn the crank on its side and they can see their unfriendly thought get shredded and end up in its belly.
Fusaro wrote this rhyme on the back of the Ärgerverschlinger:
I’m Ärgerverschlinger and here to say,
Some thoughts are unfriendly and get in your way
If you have a fear, anger, or worry,
Then give them to me right away in a hurry
Write it down, I will gobble them up.
And once again you will have good luck
The Ärgerverschlinger and Our Hope Can have their home side by side atop of their own shelf at the front of the classroom. Between them is a little basket of blank notepaper and pens available for students to use whenever they feel the need to let go of an unfriendly thought and fuel their desires. It’s been a thrill for them to discover that letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs propels them forward to new avenues of fulfillment.
Artist Darrell Fusaro is the author of “What If Godzilla Just Wanted a Hug?” and his interactive piece, “Love Yourselfie Camera,” was included in the “This is Awkward” exhibit at ESMoA.
I’m Ärgerverschlinger and here to say,
Some thoughts are unfriendly and get in your way
If you have a fear, anger, or worry,
Then give them to me right away in a hurry
Write it down, I will gobble them up.
And once again you will have good luck
The Ärgerverschlinger and Our Hope Can have their home side by side atop of their own shelf at the front of the classroom. Between them is a little basket of blank notepaper and pens available for students to use whenever they feel the need to let go of an unfriendly thought and fuel their desires. It’s been a thrill for them to discover that letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs propels them forward to new avenues of fulfillment.
Artist Darrell Fusaro is the author of “What If Godzilla Just Wanted a Hug?” and his interactive piece, “Love Yourselfie Camera,” was included in the “This is Awkward” exhibit at ESMoA.
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