Project is a tribute to Chihuly
January 12, 2009
By Staff
Jack Ryan, Newcastle Elementary School fifth grader, stands before his art project in tribute to Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly.
On Jan. 8, Newcastle Elementary School fifth-graders brought their art projects to the school’s commons for display. The assignment: Select an artist, make a poster about the artist’s career covering a timeline, plus draw/paint/create a reproduction of one of the artist’s more memorable works, and also create your own artwork in the style similar to the artist you depicted.
Jack Ryan, 10, of Newcastle, chose Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. Jack had seen his work locally and the inspiring display at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. As part of the assignment, each student had to get comments from others about their opinion of the artists’ works. Jack wrote a letter to Chihuly, and created a fact sheet, correcting a common misconception about the artist. The famous glass blower didn’t go blind by being hurt while creating an art piece, as is popularly thought. Chihuly was in a very severe car accident in 1976 in England that caused him to lose his sight in one eye.
Jack created a timeline and wrote about Chihuly’s famous Millennium artwork, commissioned by then-President Bill Clinton and now residing in the Clinton Library in Arkansas. But Jack was stumped about how he would make a glassworks project to recreate the Millennium piece, and then how could he make an art piece of his own. He certainly didn’t know how to blow glass.
A family friend who’s an artist had the solution, suggesting using Shrinky Dinks, a craft product where you can cut and color on paper but then bake in the oven. After about 90 seconds, the paper shrinks in size and can be curled and twisted, and dries to look like acrylic. Jack, with the help of his mother, designed, cut, colored and baked numerous pieces. He then laid out the pieces and created his own “glass” original in the shape of a vase and flowers.
All 74 students from Newcastle’s fifth grade got to view each other’s art and rate each other’s work. Additionally, teachers from other grades brought in their students to view the art displays, making it a true artist fair.
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