Artist's log: 04-01-2005:
It’s 8 am. I’m in the car, driving to Lakeshore Elementary School here in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. My Toyota Corolla wagon is packed with all my gear needed for an artist-in-residence appearance, at least I think so. I have the nagging feeling that I’m forgetting something. I’m trying to run the checklist through my mind- wire armature, paste, paper, tools, etc…but honestly, my mind is a bit “scattered’ this morning. You see, today is also the day my solo art exhibit opens, and I’ve got a bunch of things I need to pick up for the opening-after my day at the school. I’m trying to keep everything straight in my head-a head that only got two hours of sleep last night. Yes, I really know how to schedule things…Although my body’s running on fumes, I’m really excited about beginning this artist-in-residence program. It’s been months in planning, with members of the Lakeshore faculty and PTO meeting with
me and setting an agenda for 5 days of papier mache’ with Steve Wirtz. I’ll be appearing every Friday in April, constructing a different sculpture with a different grade level each week. The overall theme for the residency is “I Believe I Can Fly”, and each grade involved has decided on a sculpture that reflects this theme. Including an extra sculpture for the school mascot-a flying
lion, and one for the behavior disability students (a rocket), there are a total of 8 works to be completed in the 5 week period.
Today, it’s the kindergarteners. And they’re making a flying pig. I have the armature packed in the back of the car. I think it’s going to be a fun piece. ‘Can’t wait to get the pictures of this on the web-THE WEB! That’s it-I forgot my camera! It’s OK, my camera is at my studio, and it’s on the way. ‘Guess my mind is somewhat awake after all.

Ya know, I was a bit concerned about this format. Each kindergarten class was scheduled to work on the sculpture for 45 minutes. The class was split in half, with one half of the kids working on the pig, and the other half doing a side project of tracing their hands on paper. We’d switch half-way through the period. That means the kindergarten-age students would be doing papier mache’ for about 20 minutes. I thought I might be able to keep them interested for about eight, maybe nine of those minutes. But 20? Ha! When pigs fly! I figured I’d be rounding them up like little cattle (get outta the
road, Kenny!) half-way through the project..
Thankfully, I was wrong. The kids really got into it, and worked so hard for the full time period. I was very impressed with the job they did on the paper porker.

My thanks to the Teachers: Rocco Marchionda, Jenny Hughes, Carrie Schumacher & Mary Evans.