TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE

Today was our last day with Brad and Tara. What a wonderful experience with two creative artists that we will always refer to as our friends. I wanted to show the work of three more of our students that have not been shown in the blog as of yet. First is Jody and his tile pertaining to art. Second is Cameron holding his tile about education in general and finally there is Travis who is admiring his tile about dreams. These three young men have class with me during my planning period. Being advanced students, I asked Brad if they might be included in the project even though they are not in my third period class. He and Tara both agreed that they should be included. For the last time we went back to the list that we had created on our first day together. This time we gave Brad and Tara ideas as to how to illustrate the words that we did not have time to complete. They will do these tiles for us. Even though we won’t create these particular tiles, they will be done using our original ideas! Once that was complete, Brad asked some of the students who were finished with their tiles to pose for photographs. He and Tara took lots of pictures of any kind of pose that might possibly be used in the piece of sculpture. The students posed stretching upward and bending over. Then it was time for us all to go outside to view the sites for the location of the piece. Brad asked them to choose three sites. Once they did we voted. They were allowed to choose just one site. I was surprised about the site that received the most votes. Brad explained to them that choosing a site was also part of doing public art. He also explained to them that some times lots of other issues came into play such as aesthetics, finances, and preparation of the site itself. One of our sites is covered with concrete. If it is chosen part of that concrete will have to be removed for the foundation of the piece and for lighting; however, two of the sites were on grass. We were told that if these sites were chosen there would be the possibility of pavers being installed around the foundation of the piece. Once we got back inside, there was just enough time for Brad to have a quick critique on the tiles done by the students and they had time to thank Brad and Tara for all they had done for us and WCHS. Here is our last photo together. What a wonderful group of students who have done an awesome job during this two week residency. In closing my students and I agreed that since Brad and Tara had been with us for two weeks they were now officially Vikings – AND ONCE A VIKIING, ALWAYS A VIKING!

Larry Hewett