George Daily Brings Some “Yabba Dabba Doo!” to Oskaloosa High School

The Queen’s Cartoonists, a “six cat” swing band visiting Oskaloosa High School from Queens, New York, were greeted Thursday morning by a rush of students setting up their instruments for third period, while Louis Armstrong played in the background. (photo by Andy McGuire)

by Allison McGuire

The Queen’s Cartoonists, a “six cat” swing band visiting Oskaloosa High School from Queens, New York, were greeted Thursday morning by a rush of students setting up their instruments for third period, while Louis Armstrong played in the background. The Cartoonists would later play a concert at the George Daily Auditorium, but they were in the classroom to have a conversation about the realities of making a living in the arts. The band also wanted to see the preparations the students had made for their featured part in that night’s concert. Once everyone was set, the Cartoonists readied their instruments, nodded to the students, and crayons, paint, and make-up foundation hit paper in perfect harmony. This was no a band rehearsal – they were in Matt Kargol’s visual arts class.

The planning for this collaboration between music and the visual arts started in April 2016, with conversations between Matt Kargol, Oskaloosa High School’s art teacher, and Andy McGuire, the Education Director at the George Daily Auditorium. Since the Daily usually showcases the performing arts, “visual art classes don’t always get the same opportunities for outreach experiences,” says McGuire. “We knew that music classes would be interacting with a different music group later in the year, and given the visual elements of cartoon music, this seemed like a good opportunity to expand our outreach program.”

High schoolers enrolled in Mr. Kargol’s Intro to 3-D class were divided into three groups to create shadow puppet videos. Each group was assigned a tune that The Queen’s Cartoonists planned to play in their concert, and the goal was to let the style, tempo, and arc of the melodic line impact the puppet video’s storyline. For some, the music was interpreted literally – the group assigned to the Cartoonists’ Star Wars medley featured Chewie and the Millennium Falcon crashing into the Leaning Tower of Pisa, while “Girl with the Light Blue Hair” was imagined as a physical fight over a girl with light blue hair. The third group took a more abstract approach, matching the frenetic, twisting melodic line of “Siberian Sleigh Ride” to the movement of a tornado whose greatest desire was to ensnare some tacos and pizza in its funnel.

All aspects of the videos were student-produced, from the initial concept to the final editing. The class was able to premiere their work and give an explanation for each video during the band’s visit Thursday morning, and the videos were later projected, with live accompaniment, at that night’s concert. During the performance, the high schoolers’ videos were paired with stop motion videos created by Ms. Bartlett’s elementary art classes, whose flip books also were displayed in the lobby.

Back in Mr. Kargol’s Intro to 3-D class on Thursday morning, students had already practiced matching the humorous sounds of cartoon music to a visual storyline through their shadow puppet video assignment. But Mr. Kargol had one more unique experience in mind for the Cartoonists’ visit: students were asked to stretch themselves by creating art in real time, inspired by the live music.

No parameters were given but that they try to envision the colors and types of lines evoked by the different types of melodies. Using tables as music stands and a cardboard box combined with the back of a chair as a drum set, the musicians demonstrated impressive virtuosic feats, such as playing two reed instruments at once. Heads bent over the tables as students’ crayons scribbled furiously to the muted trumpet growls and the familiar “snake charmer melody” of “Turkey Twilight.” Though the piece is meant to evoke the atmosphere of the Middle Eastern country, there were lots of colorful poultry hitting students’ canvases. The avian theme stretched into the slower, cool “Penguin,” whose jaunty melody led to more careful consideration of the placement of each line. When asked, students said that they often listen to recorded music during class, but that it was a “more intense” experience to hear it live.

The bell rang, and the artistic exchange between the aural and the visual came to an end, at least for that morning. As the students packed up their gear, I’m sure they weren’t envious of bass player Ian Hutchinson, who had to carry a double bass through the crowded hallways, while they left unencumbered.