News 2003

The projects may have been part of a "trick," but the finished products made by the students were anything but. Third and fifth graders at Lanesville Elementary School and the sixth graders at North Harrison Upper Elementary School recently completed art projects with resident artists from the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation in Louisville.

"We let the kids do the art and have a good time," said Shayne Hull, director of education at the KACF. "Hopefully, we can trick them into the learning."

The artists' visits here, over a period of several weeks, were made possible by a grant from the Harrison County Community Foundation.

"The artist residency has been a very positive experience for the students involved at Lanesville Elementary School," said David Henke, the K-12 visual arts teacher. "The resident artist, Wayne Ferguson, established a wonderful working relationship with the students."

Tonya Johnson was received just as enthusiastically at North Harrison, where she worked with NHUES art teacher Carla Trotter.

Hull was impressed with the finished work of the students, 180 at North Harrison and about 70 at Lanesville.

"It was very well done," he said.

At Lanesville, the third graders individually made drawings of gargoyles and, as a group, produced a ceramic castle with decorations. They also made a ceramic gargoyle candleholder.

Henke talked to the fifth grade students about coats of arms and shields used during medieval times, explaining the meanings of different symbols usually found on them. Then, with Ferguson's assistance, the students designed symbols for their individual shields. They also made a large one to represent the town. "The Lanesville shield, which visually symbolizes student-selected symbols that characterize the local community (such as the mill and Heritage

Weekend) will be installed near the elementary school entrance for display," Henke said.

The individual works were included in the Medieval Times Display on Dec. 10, which the school hosts annually.

During his time at Lanesville, Ferguson "presented the students with real world application and current art knowledge, skills and techniques used in his particular craft," Henke said.

At North Harrison Upper Elementary School, resident artist Johnson worked with Trotter and the sixth graders to create a mural that is thematically tied in with the student's study of world history.

The 210 individual tiles depict images representing seven major periods of history. The seven panels represent Greece, Rome, medieval times, the Renaissance, Aztec and Ancient Mexico, Inca and South America, and Canada.

"The students about drove our librarian crazy doing research," said Dr. Sharon Uhl, the principal at NHUES. "I've never seen them get into a project like they did with this."

Trotter and Johnson divided the students among the seven areas so they would have an equal number of tiles for the finished product: seven boards featuring 30 tiles each. To do that, each sixth grade teacher also had to make a tile or two.

During the firing of the clay tiles, the school's kiln gave out; a new one was purchased.

Hull and Aerie Meredith, who works at the KACF, were at North Harrison on Dec. 27 to hang the panels - when laid end-to-end, they measure three feet high by 24 feet long - and one introductory panel that includes a tile that Uhl made. Hull had made the seven display boards and spent several hours (some on Christmas Day) mounting the tiles.

"This will be an eye-catcher when you walk down the hall," Hull said. Uhl said the students would be surprised when they returned to school on Jan. 6 and saw the panels hung. They knew the panels would be displayed, but they were not expecting it to happen so soon, Uhl said.

The top left tile of each panel identifies the culture it represents. After that, Hull arranged the remaining tiles by "a gut feeling, basically by color." The panel representing Canada was a little more difficult to arrange because the students had used a considerable amount of green paint to finish their tiles, he said.

"Every time I look at them, I see something new," Uhl said as she watched Hull and Meredith hang the panels.

The HCCF grant also will provide for a third resident artist from the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation to work this spring with students at the Corydon Alternative School on another project.

"This will be a very neat project," Hull said. "The students will do an 'art car'."

This involves decorating a vehicle as a piece of art. Hull said students working on the project will also learn techniques like welding and riveting. "We're looking for a cheap junker that runs that the students can beat up on," Hull said.

The students will enter their finished project in the second annual Art Car Parade, sponsored by the KACF, in Louisville in August. Hull said last year's inaugural parade was a success.

"The Harrison County Community Foundation evidently knows that bringing an art professional into the school is a great educational opportunity for students," Henke said. "The whole concept of this grant is great.

"It especially demonstrates how artists have a positive impact on our school community and clearly reinforces the visual arts standards for education," he said. "It has given the kids a great opportunity to see current artists in action."

Johnson and Ferguson demonstrated how potter's wheels are used and made gifts for the teachers they worked with.

"Through this residency, I hope that the school community has gained a greater awareness of how the visual arts maintain and preserve the culture of our local identity," Henke said.

As part of the grant, the participating schools receive free use of art kits for specific mediums - such as printmaking and costume design - and are scheduled for two workshop field trips to the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation.

Hull said the field trips will be more interesting after the KACF relocates into larger facilities next to the Louisville Science Center.

"We'll have about five times the space as we have now," he said.

The new location, which is expected to have a grand opening April 3, will also house five kilns, five potter's wheels, and an exhibition gallery. Hull said the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation is in the midst of a "major fund-raising campaign."