3D Sculptures by Upper School Artists Installed

It’s not every day you see groups of Upper Schoolers splattering paint on gigantic 3D sculptures dotted around campus. But that’s exactly what students in 3D Foundations classes have been up to recently: designing, building, and decorating cardboard sculptures.

Upper School Art Teacher Sophia Hatzikos asked students to apply their learning of I-beams, angles, structure, and building materials to create large-scale sculptures for the halls of the Upper School and Drinkward Center. Students started with ideating and sketching, then moved on to build small models before scaling their pieces to larger-than-life size.

“I think the iteration, exploration, and the momentum of building up to a concept is an important part of thinking and working in 3D. The opportunity students have to design and build something to that scale is unique.” Hatzikos said.

Gathering inspiration  in part by artist Mark di Suvero, Upper Schoolers worked hard to complete their designs using at least 10 of 15 assigned elements including the use of right angles, structures taller higher than the tallest member of their group, one or two-beam supports, elements of curvature, and more.

“I've been excited to watch the progress of students figuring out how to work in groups again,” Hatzikos said. “Seeing them reclaim those skills has been a rewarding process.”

The final step was to decorate the sculptures with carefully-placed tarps around each piece to mitigate messiness. Students enjoyed working together on the interactive conclusion of their designs.

"Hands-on learning is so crucial to any student's experience," Hatzikos said. "This is hands-on learning in a collaborative fashion, and I think that's only going to help students later on in other classes, and hopefully, it’s applicable elsewhere in life."