Students at the Industrial Arts Workshop in Hazelwood are spending 10 weeks this summer designing metal sculpture concepts for the outdoor classroom at the new Bethel Park Elementary School, welding two days a week for five to six hours per session.
Ideas under consideration include a functioning bird bath, a compass, a rain cycle representation, and a host of black hawks, among other proposals.
Students, who come from across the city and surrounding suburbs, visited the school earlier this summer for inspiration. They sketched their designs, then welded miniature metal models to test their ideas before a final selection is made.
Now in week six of the 10-week program, students presented those miniature concepts Tuesday to a Bethel Park delegation that included administrators, teachers and students Althea Johnson and Nora Jaras.
The winning design, or designs, will be built into a full-size feature standing 5 to 9 feet tall.
Kelcey Rounsville, the program’s Executive Director, said the program’s benefits go far beyond the finished artwork.
“Students build teamwork and collaboration skills, learn creative problem-solving, and develop resilience by working through setbacks in their designs,” she said. “The hands-on welding experience also helps them gain confidence as they master a challenging skill.
Rounsville added that the opportunity to create art that serves the community is just one of many benefits our students get from this experience. “We are very proud of how well they have embraced the challenge,” said Rounsville.
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