The year-long Youth Arts-led “FISH” project is coming to an exciting culmination as summer is fast approaching. Students in grades K – 4 have been working over the course of the year on making fabulous schools of fish. Beginning in October, every grade has worked with a different artist for a week-long residency creating their unique schools of fish.
Each grade was assigned a special fish “species” (a shape and size unique to their grade ) and a unique color palette. Each student was given a wooden fish “decoy” to paint and decorate. The artists that worked with each grade based their special decorative techniques on the works of well known artists.
- The Kindergarteners worked with Lisa Morgan making red fish in the style of children’s book author Eric Carle, using sponge painting, stamping and collage techniques.
- PMAG students worked on orange fish with Kathie Gass in the style of Robert Indiana, using stamping techniques.
- First graders worked on yellow fish with Julie Crane in the style of Bernard Langley using found objects such as screws, washers, nuts, bolts, pencils and the like to decorate their fish.
- Second graders worked with Susan Beebe making green, fantastical, glittery, fantasy fish!
- Third graders worked on blue fish with Cate Lamb with inspiration coming from glass artist Dale Chihuly.
- Fourth graders worked in the purple palette with Leenie Weintraub in the pointalist style, inspired by Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Georges Seurat. All students painted their fish using brushes, sponges, and q-tips, and then decorated them with many materials including wire, beads, wooden dowels, sequins, screws, nuts bolts, old pencils, old metal cans, parts from food steamers and other fun stuff!
All student fish are now complete. There was so much excitement in the school about all these fish that many staff members were inspired to join the fun! Over 25 staff members are now completing their fish, that will be added to the schools.
The 4 waves that were temporarily hung in the lobby last fall have now been permanently installed. The first group of student fish were hung from these waves on April 11th! We are all very excited to see these first fish up and can’t wait to see the more than 400 fish swimming happily in the lobby ceiling space.
Many students and staff were seen with necks craned upward on Monday morning as they were searching to spot their individual piece of art hanging in the gallery in the sky! We hope to have all the remaining fish hung by early May.
Stop by CRES and see the Fish!
