A Monster Collaboration
First grade students drew their monsters with markers, and Upper School ceramics students brought them to life with clay.
The inspiration came from an unexpected source. “I got the idea from a TikTok video I saw over winter break,” said Erica Melick, 1st grade teacher. The idea was for a cross-divisional art project, one in which 1st grade students would draw a monster, and Upper School students would create a 3-D version of the monster out of clay in their ceramics class, and then give it to their young friends. “I texted Andrea [Worthey, Upper School art teacher] to see if she’d be interested, and she loved the idea.”
Before drawing, 1st graders read monster-themed books for inspiration, and were asked to think intentionally about what their monster would look like. Would it have two eyes, or four? Would it be a nice monster, or a scary one? After sketching out their visions, the drawings were passed along to the sculptors, some of whom volunteered to make more than one monster to ensure each 1st grader would get a finished product.
The ceramics students were challenged to take a one-dimensional drawing and make it a three-dimensional reality. “We approached it as if they were industrial designers and the 1st graders were their client,” said Worthey. Ceramics students had to be creative problem solvers to figure out what components they needed and in what order of assembly. Wire limbs, for example, would not survive being fired in a 2,000-degree kiln and had to be added later. “So although some of them look simple, they’re way more complicated than you’d think.”
After several months of production, the monsters were finally ready to be revealed the day of Gallery Night (see page 17). And the 1st grade students had a surprise up their sleeves too—a story they wrote that incorporated their monster and their new Upper School friend. “I love being all under the same roof so we can take advantage of these opportunities,” said Worthey. “To see the surprise and delight on the faces of the 1st graders made the whole experience worth it.”
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