Hands That Hold: Art, Allyship, and Quaker Practice in Grade 4

Grade 4 students recently created a striking installation of sculpted hands, each one unique in shape and gesture, yet unified in a radiant rainbow—a visual metaphor for community, allyship, and the power of collective action.

This interdisciplinary art and ethics project, led by Lower School Visual Arts teacher Andrea Aimi, invites students to reflect on a core Quaker tenet: community. The process begins with observational drawings of their own hands—carefully studied for shape, volume, and movement. Students then create plaster casts, a hands-on experience that opens the door to deeper conversation. What does the shape of a fist represent? How can an open hand be a symbol of welcome? How have rainbows historically represented solidarity, inclusion, and resistance?

Andrea, who earned her Master’s degree in Art Education in 2023, focused her thesis on Joining Quaker Pedagogy and Art Education in Building Brave Spaces. She writes, “The plaster cast project came before the thesis, but it helped me tie these ideas together—specifically the idea that rainbows have historically symbolized people’s movements and how the struggles of others can inspire us to act as allies.”

To her students, she poses the query: How can we be supportive to someone even if we are not friends? It’s a deceptively simple question that guides a powerful reflection on empathy, courage, and compassionate action.

This project also connects to Friends Seminary’s longstanding tradition of decorating delivery bags for God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD). “I always do the casts before the GLWD project,” Andrea shares, “so that students have that informed experience. Making something for someone they don’t personally know reinforces this idea of engaged, compassionate action.”

The final “Rainbow of Hands” is more than an art project. It’s a brave space in visual form—where personal creativity and Quaker values meet, and where students begin to understand their capacity to act with both strength and kindness in the wider world.