April Project

Last year I worked as a resident artist with the 7th grade art classes at Batesville Middle School, IN. Had a grand time with the kids and apparently really impressed the art teacher….

This week I started a month long project with the BMS Art Club kids (about 25 6-8th graders). A delightful park in Batesville, Brum Woods, has issued an invitation for local artists to create art to install in the woods along the trails. The Art Club teacher applied – and received! – some grant monies for me to come in to help the kids make orbs and grids out of natural materials and hang them in the woods.

The original thought was to have the kids collect the materials from the woods, but with parental permissions and limited time after school and the abundant presence of poison ivy, we decided to go with naturals that can be gathered by the adults (bamboo from S’s yard, willow from a local pond area, tree trimmings from my yard and rattan from my basket stash). We’ll be lashing and tying things together with sisal to keep it all natural, knowing that all the materials will eventually decay and become a more integral part of the woods.

Our first meeting was to see the Indianapolis Art Center installation that Bonnie Zimmer and I created last summer (blog notes and pics). While there, the kids had the opportunity to see several great exhibits and explore the sculpture gardens. We also did a little tutorial on knots and lashings.

Next week we will start work on installation pieces. Not sure what the kids will actually come up with, but we have four weeks to creatively play!

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