Student art work from the Cuba spring break trip will be featured at Bergamot Station starting May 16.

The trip, led by Upper School Visual Arts teacher Alyssa Sherwood and Middle School Visual Arts teacher Joe Medina, ran from March 28 to April 5.

Students interviewed Cubans to better understand the life and culture of the people.

Sherwood said the goal was to respect the people and gain a sense of who they are culturally.

“You see a lot of people who have to really work and struggle for what they have,” Phaedra Robinson ’17 said.

Students spent time in both rural Cuba and in Havana, staying with some host families, and practicing their Spanish.

“I asked [one woman we interviewed] what her happiest moment was and she said ‘the day I graduated because me and my peers, it was a happy day and we had accomplished something,’” Robinson said. “It’s very humbling.”

A photography project with Cuban children that began during the Digital Storytelling trip to Cuba in January headed by visual arts teacher Cheri Gaulke was completed over the spring break trip.

Children in Cuba were given disposable cameras to take pictures of their homes. Students exchanged pictures with the kids to learn more about Cuban culture.