Andrea Skyberg

School: Franklin High School
Educating Artist: Andrea Skyberg
Cooperating Teacher: Stacey Mercier

Believing that humans have a spirit separate from their human body is a notion that has been around for as long as human beings started honoring and burying their dead. The questions “Is their life after death?” and “What happens when our bodies no longer work?” are universal questions which have been approached in different ways throughout time. The face jugs created in America since the 18th century have provided an exploration for some people as they struggle with these loaded questions and develop their personal beliefs. For the slaves that created some of these vessels and placed them on graves it may have been a way of representing the individual that died, or as some believe, it may have served as a scary image in which to deter evil spirits from taking the spirit of their friend of family member. For others, the jugs have served as a grave marker during a time when slaves were not allowed to mark graves with traditional headstones. There is no way to understand completely why these jugs were created, but their existence gives their makers some life after death. Through this project students will investigate their own spirit and mortality and consider how their creation of a face jug will represent their interpretations and beliefs.