"Eggs are a perfect method to paint on when you are learning about things that can break. When you know that something is really fragile, you take care of it. When you see that the whole Earth and everything in it can be fragile. - well, you can imagine how that makes you feel. If we all cared for each other and the Earth with our whole hearts, the work would be happy and we could relax and enjoy it together." The above quote is a summary from a 3rd-grade student after completing the Egg Painting Compassion Project. The objectives for this program is that students will paint their own stories around the three-dimensional, curved surfaces of a fragile eggshell. The work is intricate. It requires attention, commitment, and a great deal of care. After creating a masterpiece work of miniature art, students write insightful poetry about their creation and perform in a professional-style reading before an audience.
"The Egg Painting Compassion Project was designed with fourth graders in mind, although it has been adapted for children and adults of all ages. It consists of ten gentle two-hour lessons that help students focus, find their center, paint their own stories on eggshell canvases, and write poems with messages that can only be found in the body of their completed work, messages that might help the rest of us navigate our world." http://www.compassioneggs.com/home.html