A first-year student to the LPSD Art Academy was wearing the shark costume and greeting visitors as some 60 artists from across the LPSD welcomed visitors to College Park for their Under the Sea exhibit.
Grade five’s Sloan Bolton says it took the young artists over two months of work to get the display ready for viewing.
“The best part was just setting up. I really like setting up because its getting ready for people to come. It’s like cleaning the house before guests come,” says Sloan.
“We took recycled and re-purposed materials and turned them into an under the sea experience where you can hear, see, taste, and smell under the sea.”
The students choose the theme of Under the Sea for the interactive display. Hofer says its similar to what you see in the big city like the Van Gogh displays.
“We celebrate unique ideas. This is a perfect project to capture the wonderful imagination of these young children and their ability to create something larger than themselves which impacts their community and their school,” says Hofer.
One of the largest pieces was a gigantic cobra. The school’s teams are known as the College Park Cobras.
In expressing her pride in her young students, Hofer celebrates the production process.
“It’s all built using glue guns, and torn up cardboard. They painted them. They made treasure boxes, whale sharks, different recycled bags.”
Some of the artwork will be displayed in the school’s library and at the Youth Art Show for Arts Without Borders in the fall.
“It’s really instilling in the students that their art, creativity and ideas matter,” says Hofer.
