A place for art to sit

Suzie Harrison

El Morro Elementary School third-grade teacher Dee Perry may have

come up with a new benchmark for student art competitions.

“Several years ago I went on a public art walk with [arts

commissioner] Jan Sattler,” Perry said. “Heisler Park has different

public art works, and I took note of the benches.”

Perry took her students on a similar tour and, along with fellow

teacher Tamara Wong, decided her class would do its own

artist-designed bench competition. The students could use any

materials they chose. The bench needed to be between six and 10

inches long, and it needed to fit on a platform no larger than eight

by 10 inches

“Each had the chance to create their own bench,” Perry said.

The competition also fits in her class’ curriculum because

third-grade students study Laguna Beach as part of their social

studies lessons.

“It took two weeks, they drew them at home and created them at

home,” Perry said. “They really tapped into their creativity.”

The students turned the work in on April 23 and voted with faculty

on the entries in four categories.

Tomora O’Hara, 8, won Most Whimsical, with “Morning Glory Bench.”

“My design, I first started out with this wire [as the base]

because I wanted to use it, because I wanted it to be bouncy,” Tomora

said.

Next she said she started curling vines she used and put leafs

with them.

“Then I did the big flower on top, baked it in the oven for 15

minutes and then I glued the sparkles on,” Tomora said.

She said she used a special colorful kind of clay to get her

vibrant purple morning glory.

Sarah Chappell, 9, won Most Comfortable.

“My bench is ‘A Day at the Beach,’” Sarah said.

To help create her piece, she said she chose items from her house,

including cardboard, crayons, markers and Popsicle sticks.

“And I used some ‘sponge-like’ material for the underside of the

bench and a softer, grassy material for the top,” Sarah said. “I used

Styrofoam and shaped it, flipped it over and spray-painted it blue.”

Two mermaids were on each side of the bench to add the ornamental

beach value she was looking for. She used metal wire and hot glue to

secure them.

Avid mountain-goer Sydney Saxe, 8, came up with “Campfire for

Two,” which won Most Creative, while she was in Mammoth.

“I came up with it because my parents and I love going to the

mountains and traveling to Mammoth,” Sarah said. “I was thinking

about the mountains a lot and how campfires keep you warm. I also

like to sit by a fire.”

She gathered sticks and leaves and used Styrofoam as the ground,

and created a piece that looked like a campfire with wood bark as the

benches. Grace Clark, 9, was awarded first in Most Interesting

Materials Used, inspired by the leftover Easter candy at her kitchen

table.

“I used four [miniature] Snickers and toffee to hold it up, and

two Crunch bars to sit on [and for the back] and put two Pez holders

on the side.

“I thought it was really fun. I would be really happy if someone

liked my idea and decided to make one in real life.”