All in one day!

Things seem to be moving very quickly now.  In March we met with school district representatives regarding the design and installation of the benches.  We discussed the process, potential issues and problem solved around it.  We are so very lucky in that we have met with such support and encouragement. Michael Palmer, our Assistant Manager of Transportation and Grounds provided sound advice and offered additional maintenance staff to help where appropriate. It was a very positive and encouraging meeting.

We also decided on which locker forms might be best for the project.   We had already acquired a locker bank from a local high school that had closed (yellow lockers pictured), but the design of the locker was partially raised in the middle, causing concern regarding the comfort of the benches should someone sit on a very narrow raised portion.  We had some fantastic older style lockers (green lockers pictured) but they were too narrow to be comfortable to sit on and as they were installed in the school, removing an entire bank to get the surrounding metal frame would cause issues with gaping holes in the hallways, not to mention the students who would be displaced and asked to use another locker.

We began a new search (we desperately wanted to avoid taxing the budget by paying for new ones) and as luck would have it, two doors had come loose from the student change rooms and were sitting in the PE office awaiting rehanging. They were half lockers, meaning they they were organized on the same vertical plane so that one student would have the top locker and another the bottom, but they were wide and flat, and most importantly available,  solving our problem beautifully (pictures of casting and final lockers to follow in future posts).

We met with the students next to provide feedback to Jasmine regarding her final designs and brainstorm objects to add/affirm/change.  Students were very happy with the designs and quickly amassed a list of objects for her consideration in creating the mother mold. As fast as I could type it, here is their list...

Objects for locker tops:

Pencils

Markers

White out

Eraser

Ruler

Geometry set

Headphones

Change

Wallet

Make up

Scarf

Mittens

Playing cards

Tape

Juice box

Glasses

Sandwich

Banana peel

Chips

Big gulp

Cheeseburger

Wraps

Hot dogs

Fries

Sock

Chocolate bar

Sneaker

Test tubes

Paintbrushes

Laptop

Paper airplanes

Agenda

USB key

Coins

Snack shack

Gum

Cell phones

Duffle bag (textile project all students would have done in gr. 8)

Empty cans

Calculator

Magnifying glass

Camera

Hats

Pinwheel

Report card

Crumpled paper

ipod

ipad

Water bottle

Eating utensils

Binders

Notebooks

Backpack

Lunch box

Lunch

Backpack

Wow, that was ONE day.  I am so encouraged by all the positivity of our process in such a short time frame that I am very eager for the next step.

our landscape design

The Public Art Project has always been designed to be installed on school property.  Ideally, we have envisioned this project to dovetail with the RE[3] Project where the school community re-imagines, re-claims and re-creates an underutilized asphalt patch to the south of the school. As part of this exciting process of re-imagining what could/should/might be developed for our students, teachers and outlying community, the public art project has always featured prominently in the plan.  Our landscape design firm Skala has worked on creating ideas that would meet many of the criteria and site restrictions on the space.  As the school is located beside the South Arm Community Centre it whares property lines with the city of Richmond.  Working alongside City of Richmond, School District, Community Centre, student and community representatives,  a working committee of stakeholders has been formed.  Skala has met with our artist Jasmine and more recently a contingent of public art students as well to help situate the work appropriately.  Here are two of their final designs (the Public Art Benches are featured in red):