Loyal Heights, Rehearsals

I went to the school for a couple of days this week so that I could finish some construction details on the puppets and so that the kids could rehearse.  The kids and puppets both did great, only a few minor issues that were easily fixed. 

I've really been enjoying my experience at this school.  There is such a sense of community here.  When school is over, if the weather's nice, parents picking up their kids just hang out at the playground for an hour or so, conversing while their kids play.

Loyal Heights Art Walk

Here are pix of several of the puppets from the recent artwalk at Loyal Heights Elementary!

Loyal Heights, part 3

In April I helped create more troll masks with the remaining first and second grade classes and we added some after-school sessions to put finishing touches on the giant puppets. 


  

Loyal Heights, part 2

The 3rd grade class I worked with last month made great progress on the puppets. Large pieces were skinned, hands, paws and arms finished off. We have another session coming up in April, when we will be doing troll masks during the day, and finishing off the puppets afterschool. We also hope to be doing some parade practice during recess!

Loyal Heights Elementary, Part 1

This year I have been doing an artist-in-residency at Loyal Heights Elementary in Ballard. We're creating troll masks and giant puppets for the Syttende Mai (or Norwegian Heritage) parade in May. The theme is Norse Mythology and I've been doing the masks with K - 2nd and giant puppets with the 3rd - 5th graders. Some of the characters the students are making are Jorgamund the Midgard Serpent, the Fenris Wolf, Odin, Idun, Hel, and several others. It's been quite the mix of art, engineering, group problem solving, and most importantly, working together. Parent and teacher support has been great, and the students have been producing some phenomenal work. These photos give some examples of the progress that the kids have been making over the past several weeks. The school also benefits from a well organized Artist-in-Residence program. Our project was recently featured in an article in the Ballard News Tribune. Additional pictures can be seen at my Photobucket site.