Mini Grant Series: Timpview German Teacher Van Orden’s Salina Massacre Memorial Art Installation Project

January 26th, 2024 /
Spencer Tuinei /
Foundation, News, Secondary Schools, Timpview High

The teachers and specialists in Provo City School District are our innovators. They are innovators, companions, and caretakers—the brick-and-mortar that founded learning in our community. The Provo City School District Foundation wants to recognize and support their efforts to make our schools a better place.

The Foundation awards mini-grants to a few deserving district teachers each year. To receive the grant, teachers must submit a two-page application detailing their concept for an innovative project to their classroom or school. After receiving the completed application, the Provo School District Foundation Selection Committee picks the mini-grant recipients for the year.

It’s a process that isn’t required of teachers, but each year, many go the extra mile for their students.

This year, we’re speaking to a few teachers who have received mini-grants to ask them about their classroom’s perceived need, their mini-grant product, the classroom impact of their mini-grant, and lastly, advice for new and struggling teachers on how they can differentiate and extend learning in their classrooms.

We spoke with Stephen Van Orden, a German teacher from Timpview High, about his mini-grant project. His mini-grant partially funded a significant interdisciplinary project developed in collaboration with Franziskaneum Gymnasium from Provo’s sister city, Meissen, Germany. The primary focus of their project was to create 133 cyanotypes alongside a documentary on their endeavors, emphasizing the value of building partnerships with others—even those you initially consider antagonistic to you—in the aftermath of tragic events.

To paraphrase the Timpview article covering Van Orden’s mini-grant project, the class created cyanotypes as memorial art commemorating a long-forgotten tragedy. During and after World War II, Utah became home to over 8,000 German prisoners of war (POWs), who were distributed across the state in camps accommodating 250 individuals each. These camps were strategically located to address the wartime labor shortage, allowing POWs to work on farms. One camp in Orem, for instance, had men assisting in orchards, while another in Salina involved work in sugar beet fields. Surprisingly, most interactions between the POWs and local farm families were positive, resulting in enduring friendships. However, a tragic incident occurred on July 8, 1945, known as the Salina Massacre.

Clarence Bertucci, assigned guard duty that night, indiscriminately fired upon the sleeping and defenseless POWs, causing injuries and claiming nine lives. Time swept over the Salina Massacre in the aftermath of other atrocities; the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took coverage bandwidth, and America forgot about the prisoners of war injured and killed at the Salina Massacre.

Seeing a perceived need and supported by grants from the Provo Foundation and the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), these artworks and the documentary formed the core of a new exhibit delivered to the CCC and POW Museum in Salina, Utah, honoring those killed in the massacre.

Cyanotype art, Van Orden explained, involves a photographic printing process using a light-sensitive solution to create blue-toned prints, offering a unique aesthetic characterized by its striking blue hues. Only the negative imprint is left behind by printing through this unique process. It is a fitting metaphor for both trauma and partnership post-traumatic events; only the inverse print is left in the wake of the space of each image. While both the original and cyanotype prints share the same initial photograph, they frame and capture the image in such differing lights that they express differing perspectives.

Additionally, cyanotypes are accessible for students of all artistic abilities due to their simplicity, requiring minimal equipment, and thus allowing for creative expression regardless of aptitude for art.

German students from Franziskaneum Gymnasium joined Timpview students in creating the art and traveled to Utah to commemorate the new installation.

We invite you to read the full article on the commemoration, review all of the art on their pdf file, and enjoy pictures of the event on the Timpview News page. Watch their documentary on their YouTube channel.

The mini-grant is a showcase of student work, but it is also a showcase of Van Orden’s commitment to building cross-cultural connections. It reveals a teacher who is capable of creating empathy in others. The Franziskaneum Gymnasium class visit, which occurs every other year, serves as a platform for meaningful collaboration between the partner schools and highlights the school’s dedication to fostering understanding through creative and educational projects. Their partnership is less known in our district but most deserving of praise. It is proof of an excellent teacher who, gratefully, is willing to share insights with others.