Our plan
In Sept '09, I was appointed the PTO "Green Queen" to teach our 750 1st-5th grade children about "reduce, reuse and recycle." Then I saw my son's religious education class of eight kids make sculptures of throw-aways and I thought, if eight can do it, why not 750? The art teacher concurred and It would teach the kids to rethink how they look at trash, teach them that art supplies can be free, and spur creativity. We knew we couldn't store 750 individual pieces of art, so we agreed to group each class into tables of 3-4 kids.
What we did
I put out a flyer to parents asking them to donate unwanted items from their homes and gave examples of 103 things to look for (think old paintbrushes, material, corks, lids, electronics, hangars, old fast food toys, etc.) I stored them in my basement until the week the project began when we moved them into sorted boxes in the art hallway. I asked the local garbage company to donate large boxes to gather items in the school lobby. I asked Walmart to donate 230 glue sticks, and asked Walgreens to donate rolls of packing tape. The project essentially cost nothing except a lot of time! Through email I asked parents to help fill 58 time slots (one for each class) to help the art teacher, Andrea Dunmire, with wielding hot glue guns and packing tape. The art teacher inspired the kids with a PowerPoint presentation on contemporary artists who reused items to make amazing art. Then the kids went into the hallway and worked in teams to gather items.
Our results
The children were overjoyed with their eco-sculptures and added museum titles to them with their names. Our school is one-third Hispanic so the groups were diverse and in the two art classes it took to complete them, they displayed great leadership, negotiation skills and creativity. We first displayed the art at parent-teacher conferences in the halls, and then in our Kennett Friday Night Art Stroll. Community members loved them so much they inspired me to call the Delaware Art Museum where about 50 of the 158 pieces have been on display from Dec 18 - January 29! Our RecyclArt exhibit teaches others how to keep items out of landfills, that everyday items in their homes can be used as art supplies, and that going green can be fun!
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