John Harper, itinerant art teacher at Flinn Elementary School, wants students to know that artistic minds have the ability to change the world.
"The message that we try to instill in the students is that the world is the way it is today based on the artists and the creative minds that have invented things over the last 20,000 years or so," Harper said.
To relay this message, Harper has partnered with the Sissonville Branch of the Kanawha County Public Library, which has served as a gallery for the sculptures of a hundred Flinn Elementary students throughout the month of May. Sculptures include the individual art work of students, about 20 Leonardo Da Vinci emulations and a large airplane that was featured in the Sissonville homecoming parade.
This was the first year that Flinn took part in the parade - something that Harper plans to do annually - and Harper said that about 50 students created the airplane. The plane is signed by every student in the school and inscribed with "Flinn Students Soar," relating to the school's theme to "Soar Beyond Expectations."
Fourth-grader Alona Mobley worked on the large sculpture and talked about the material used to build it.
"We used cardboard boxes and shaped it out like that," Alona said. "One thing I know about that thing is that we used a lot of tape."
Andrew Stanley, the children's specialist at the Sissonville Library, said that the library is excited to open their doors to schools in the area. The reaction to the art pieces so far has been positive, said Stanley, providing both Harper and the library the incentive to make the Flinn Elementary Sculpture Show an annual tradition.
"A lot of the adults who have seen it have been really impressed with what the kids have made," he said.
Stanley mentioned how excited students have been to see their own art, or the work of their peers, when visiting the library. One of those students, fourth-grader Bailey Dore, talked about creating the sculptures and identified some of her favorites.
"It took us probably about two weeks to build these sculptures," said Bailey, who pointed out sculptures of cars, a horse and the world's first helicopter.
Another fourth-grade student, Carson Vance, talked about the creative process behind an emulation of Da Vinci's "Self-Propelled Car" that he and Bailey co-created.
"It began when we looked at pictures of Leonardo Da Vinci. We drew pictures of him and we got to pick out a model. Me and Bailey got one of the hardest, which was the world's first car," said Carson.
The Flinn Elementary Sculpture Show is just one way that Harper has introduced his students to unorthodox art mediums. In lieu of traditional pencil and paper art classes, Flinn Elementary students make story quilts, class murals and will even be collaborating with the school's music classes in the future.
This is Harper's first year working at Flinn and he's hoping to build upon the successes of the school's established art program. Just this year, Harper introduced a number of new initiatives at Flinn, including a Lego Team that will annually compete at the West Virginia Home Show.
Flinn will also be participating in eight to 10 art shows every year, Harper said. Last winter, Flinn took part in the Poca Valley Bank Christmas Card Drawing Contest, which consisted of kindergarten through 12th grade students in five counties. Though the competition was tough, Flinn Elementary won two of seven awards, said Harper - a success for a small school that only goes up to the fourth grade.
Harper's goal as a teacher is for students to know that everything they make is art. The public has strict ideas when it comes to art, but it can really be anything, he said.
"People think that art is all about drawing and a lot of people are all saying that they don't draw very well," Harper said. "But everything is art when problems have to be solved and executed."
Reach Jared Casto at jared.casto@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4832 or follow
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