Junior Julia Amode and her table group members in three-dimensional studio art took off into a space-related sculptural project on Jan. 29 to correspond with the upcoming chorus concert theme: 50 Years in Space. Since then, three-dimensional studio art students from grades nine through 11 have been constructing a mobile suspended by wire that is either attached by a central string hanging from the ceiling or supported by a wooden stand. Matthew Henderson, who teaches two- and three-dimensional studio art, allows the students to design their group’s mobiles in their own desirable styles.

“Our table has come up with the idea of a mobile attached to a stand, in this case in the shape of a rocket 14 inches by 6 inches with planets, stars, spaceships, meteors and other space-themed things all carved out of a styrofoam board and attached by handmade jump-rings made from wire,” Amode said. “After cutting out the pieces, we paint each in a cartoon-style using acrylic paint. The funnest part of the project is seeing what my table mates [Mackenzie Jerdon, Kyra Pechart and Aislinn O’Neill] and I can come up with for objects to add to the mobile. One of the things Aislinn made was a cute alien in a spaceship and I drew a dog in a space suit floating on balloons.”

To match the chorus concert theme, the sculptures will be displayed in the auditorium in April.

“The class itself is an introduction to sculpture class,” Henderson said. “The kinetic sculptures are interesting in that they move, so not only do students need to think about how they look, but they also need to think about the physical balance and movement of the piece. ”

Amode said the knowledge she has acquired from the group project will help fuel her journey in pursuing a possible art career.

“I definitely learned a lot of physics trying to put together the mobile and getting it to balance,” Amode said. “I also learned that cutting round shapes out of styrofoam is impossible. However, as a group we learned about each others different art styles because we all made separate charms to hang on the mobile. I am considering several majors in the art field such as architecture and design, and I feel this project demonstrates and emphasizes the importance of structure and balance in an art piece.”

By Monica Castellanos