At the Julia de Burgos Elementary School in North Philadelphia
A documentary film about the life and art of Idaho artist James Castle, produced by the Foundation for Self-Taught American Artists, has served as the catalyst for a collaboration between the Foundation and art teachers at public, private, charter, and magnet schools throughout the Philadelphia region.
Using found materials similar to those used by James Castle, students are learning about an artist who was deaf and lived in poverty. Undaunted, Castle found eloquence in a lifetime of artmaking. His life story and astonishing art production are truly inspiring—a triumph of the will and the imagination.
In early June 2009, art teacher Jean Fontaine from the Julia de Burgos Elementary School, at 4th & Lehigh Streets in North Philadelphia, introduced her sixth grade students to "Castle in the Classroom."
Click here to play a short video about the collaboration