Art imitates life at McGuffey
Lucas Barr, left, and Mason Hewitt make last-minute adjustments to the interactive art installation piece their third-grade class at Claysville Elementary brought to Citizens Library Friday. The piece, named Willie the Bookworm, was part of a STEAM project at the school.
Third-grader Koda Reynier at McGuffey’s Claysville Elementary tests the interactive art installation piece she and her classmates created and brought to the Observer-Reporter offices. This piece was made after the students researched the publisher and incorporated information about the company into the piece that can produce light and sounds.
Third-grade students from McGuffey’s Claysville Elementary visit the Observer-Reporter offices on May 26 to deliver their interactive art installation piece. The project, funded by a STEAM grant, incorporated research and technology with their art and music classes.
Third-grade teacher Karen Jones and her class from McGuffey’s Claysville Elementary bring their art installation piece to the Observer-Reporter offices Friday. The students researched the publisher and used that information to create an interactive piece that lights up and produces sounds when activated by touch.
They made a mockup of Washington County Courthouse for Commissioner Larry Maggi’s office.
Down the steep hill to the east, they presented a replica of a book topped by a googly-eyed worm to Citizens Library.
And a block back up the hill, they displayed a nifty creation of ORPP, the Observer-Reporter mascot, inside the newspaper’s main entrance.
Third-graders from Claysville Elementary School, in McGuffey School District, created an installation art piece for 25 Washington County institutions as part of a project. They were in the city of Washington Friday to visit the three aforementioned locations and drop off the pieces for display.
Their works were inspired by the operations of each of those entities, and made entirely with recycled materials by the 18 classmates.
”These were the kids’ ideas,” said Karen Jones, their teacher.
Also, after researching music from around the world and making an instrument of their own, the students converted that instrument’s sounds to a digital format.
The project was made possible by a STEAM grant (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) from the Benedum and Grable foundations.
Jones supervised the efforts, with assists from elementary art teacher Brenda Umshares, two high school art club members and a fifth-grader.
Each art piece has a standard electrical outlet and interactive audio and visual components, and comes with a plaque outlining the project.
Much planning went into the projects. ORPP, for example, is a miniature version of the O-R’s blockish mascot. It has a pleasant face, with half a tongue extending from a black mustache and two arms – all mounted on actual O-R pages. ORPP’s left hand clutches a rolled-up newspaper.
The highlight, though, is the blue eyebrows that light up.
The artworks will be on display at their 25 venues through September.