Oreo Cookie – Papier Mache Pop Art Project Maggie W.

Students in one eighth grade class chose to explore Pop Art as their sculpture project. Part of their exploration was a philosophical and aesthetic inquiry into why an object could be just an ordinary object of our daily life when viewed within its context, but when reproduced, enlarged, and set in a new and different context, it could be an art object.  This was the question that Andy Warhol raised with his outsized paintings of Campbell Soup Cans exhibited in an art gallery in 1962. Warhol’s famed project and the sculptures of Claes Oldenburg, including his public sculptures, became the inspirations for class discussion and brainstorming for ideas.   Students chose to do this type of project, and collaborated with the teacher to shape it as it progressed.  The making of the individual projects involved much collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving at which this particular class proved so excellent. The projects were displayed in the MMS Library Media Center “Gallery” where they received much attention and positive feedback.

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Pepsi Can – Papier Mache Pop-Art Project by Uday A.

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Pancakes – Papier Mache Pop Art Project by Ali B.

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Tabasco Sauce – Papier Mache Pop Art Project by David O.

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Op Art Public Art Proposal by Harrison W.

In the past several years a few eighth grade classes collaborated on the development of this project as a curriculum unit. The Op Art design project which eighth graders typically do was integrated with a public art project. It was a good opportunity for students to learn about Op Art and also about public art and the unique process involved in its realization. Studio art involves the artist working alone in the studio, and making all of the decisions. Public art often requires that the artist collaborate on a regular basis with art consultants, administrators [e.g., town officials, etc.], architects, engineers, construction companies, real estate developers, business owners, community representatives, fabricators, etc., who participate in the decision-making process.

Students learned that the process of realizing a public art commission is made up of a number of phases, including the request for proposal, the submission of a conceptual proposal which can be drawings, photographs, or diagrams, the submission of a model, a budget, a schedule, an artist’s statement, biography, etc. These materials are reviewed through a multi-part selection process involving a panel of individuals identified above. These individuals can also be involved through the fabrication process, and often collaborate with the artists to prepare and implement the project for permanent installation.

Each student made an Op Art-inspired design as their conceptual proposal which is a photograph of the design superimposed on a photograph of the electrical transformer box in front of the Gulf Service Station in Darien, CT [on Boston Post Road]. The proposals are installed next to or below their original Op Art-inspired design. The next phase in the development of this project will include the making of a model as part of the proposal, and, the selection of one of the proposals, and if possible, the actual painting of the box.

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Op Art Design by Harrison W.

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Op Art Design for Public Art Proposal by Bridget L.

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