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- From: "Steve Wright" <swright AT townofchapelhill.org>
- To: <chpac-staff AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [Chpac-staff] CHPAC in news
- Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:46:19 -0500
Dear CHPAC, Linked and reproduced below is an article from this weekend’s
Chapel Hill News about the current Artists@Work residency. A reception
will be held tomorrow night (Tuesday) from 6:30 - 7:30 pm at the McDougle
Library ( -Steve http://www.chapelhillnews.com/front/story/11590.html
CHAPEL HILL --
Fourth-graders and a few fifth-graders at Following
the Artist and
art teacher David Gould worked with the students for eight weeks as an artist
in residence, funded by the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission. He brought
in Debbie Englund, who makes face jugs, to help with the project. The face
jug tradition began more than a century ago, when potters began making
containers with stylized faces; one theory holds that they originally put
frightening features on the jugs that held spirits such as moonshine in order
to keep children away from them. The
McDougle project, on the other hand, was designed specifically to be attractive
and educational for kids. Gould and Englund incorporated the artwork into
fourth-grade lessons on character education. Each student identified seven
positive characteristics he or she has, or aspires to, and scratched them into
the back of the jug around their name. "We
were trying to put good spirits in there, lasting, to empower them for the
middle school years and beyond," Gould said. The result
is a collection of almost 100 unique creations lining the tallest bookshelves
in the school library. The students designed their jugs in any shape they
liked, from short bowls to tall vases. Gould threw the basic shapes on a
potters wheel, and then, with some help from Englund, the students fashioned
their faces as they saw fit. Some opted for delicate eyes and noses; others
attached huge ears or lots of teeth. Some gave
their face jugs names. "Nose Toucher," for example, is a fun one
where the tongue is sticking up so far it touches the nose. "Butterfly
Lady" features beautiful wings where ears would be. One is called, for
reasons best known to the artist, simply "Bob the Cow." "The
children were so interested and committed to their work and, I think, very
proud of their work. It was just a great experience," said Janet Oldham,
the school art teacher. She said
while the display is nice in the library, she loved the way the freshly glazed
jugs looked when they were crowded on shelves in her kiln closet. "When
they were all stored back there, it was like being in a candy shop, all
glistening," Even as
the students are about to take their work home, they are quick to compliment
what they've seen their classmates do. They remember things like the french
moustache on one, an unusual hole running through the middle of another -- with
teeth -- and the amazing expressions on yet another. Victoria
Smith, 8, made hers delicate and brown with curvy eyes. She's hoping her mother
can put flowers in it. "Something
I learned is lots of people have the same qualities as me. And lots of people
like to smile," she said. Abby
Stern, 9, covered the back of hers with green paint and large purple polka
dots. "It
brought out creativity in some of my friends," Abby said. May
Burgard, 9, put characteristics on hers that she thought it would be good for
people to have -- honesty, kindness, courage, strength, justice, heart. Jose Arrioja
thinks viewers would walk away from his knowing he is often silly, happy and
excited. "I
wanted mine to look a little bit fantasy," he said. "I picked the
colors differently -- my hair was green instead of black and my nose was really
dark brown." He doesn't
plan to give his away as a present. "When
I take it home, I'll put it next to my bed, and I'll probably put stuff in it,
stuff that's important to me," he said. What sorts
of things? Well, like the little shark he won at Max
Blackburn, 10, creator of "Bob the Cow," said he liked the way the
skin turned out brown like his. He managed to create an almost marbled affect
by using speckles of blue and yellow paint on the eyes. "I'd recommend that other art teachers do it for
their classes and people do it at home," he said. Contact Cheryl Sadgrove at 932-2005 or csadgrov AT nando.com. The |
- [Chpac-staff] CHPAC in news, Steve Wright, 12/17/2007
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