A long standing tenet of the CHS VPA department is that we
value our disciplines as necessary to help balance daily life against the
growing forces of technology.  We don’t
think of them as fun options, although we do hope that we are fun. We also do
not think of ourselves as providing supplementary courses. We value whole brain
learning and we are concerned with what device are doing to our student. I am
not a Luddite; I highly value mobile banking from my phone, map apps when I am
in a hurry and the joy of being able to compose and post a murky blog about art
from the comfort of my favorite chair. 

But along with these conveniences, we also suffer some
losses.  The streamlining of some learning
processes, despite the sales pitches of expanded learning through efficiency,
may be depriving many students of the struggle of process.  Screens may also be reducing their field of
vision from panoramic to immediate. 

Through multiple pathways, the VPA department is attempting
to help students maintain a sense of invention, a sense of methodical process
to unlock the unexpected and the reward of discovery.  Most often, our plans affect the maker more
than the viewer.  Once in a while we can
turn that outcome around.

When Natalie Terry asked me about a public space project as
part of the school’s celebration of Lent through service, I doubt I let her
finish before I agreed.  I love the idea
of art as intervention, as disruption, as spectacle.  In those moments, the value of art shifts
from micro to macro, from maker to recipient, and everyone wins a prize.

I think she asked for consultation and support for her
groups to get a public piece going for Lent. 
Of course, I misunderstood that an opportunity to go a bit bigger.  My sculpture class had just finished a
project where they began to understand conceptual ideas within art on a small scale.  I thought this collaborative project could
work to support that lesson.  They liked
the challenge and dove in the design process. 

I encourage the value of disruption and mystery as
tools.  In the end, we designed an
abstracted bus design that had functionality. 
We kept it somewhat simple for construction speed and conceptual
strength.  I tried to challenge to
improve but I let them make decisions.

I also tried to minimize adult assistance.  The girls did great!  A combined task for sculpture students,
student leadership, SLC members and volunteers responding to a schoology update
pooled their energies to get it done in 5 working days. That was success no.1.

We built it publicly to generate interest and demand some
questioning. We orientated it to interfere with traffic, to disrupt flow and to
be cutely inconvenient.  Our concept is
that is the role of artists includes to boldly teach and expand ideas through
our work. We worked here to shatter near-sightedness, to penetrate the
awareness and to contradict the rapid image with a solid, immobile moment. That
was success no.2.  

And, as an extra prize, it looks sweeeeet! Bonus no.3