MS students collaborate on art work

by Emily Holt, art teacher
 
Their bicycle wheels sculpted in tandem with Friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities will be on display 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 at Main Street Gallery in East Nashville.
Earlier this fall, a class of seventh and eighth-grade multimedia art students began an artist collaboration with Friends Life Community, a day program for teenagers and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  The Friends and 20 USN students started a bicycle wheel design based on the tandem bike logo of Friends Life. Students sculpted using found objects, wires, and basket weaving materials from around USN’s midtown campus to sculpt life-size bicycle wheels and Friends did the same.
 
After three weeks, the wheels were exchanged and the partnership began. USN Middle School students learned a lot about collaboration and how to add to another’s work without losing the spirit of the original piece.
 
On Nov. 16, the class went on a field trip to meet the Friends and visit their art studio. During the studio visit, the Friends welcomed us with a round of introductions and our students did the same. Everyone was able to show the wheel they started and which one they enhanced. The excitement and joy of viewing each other’s work was inspirational and heartwarming. 
 
All the wheels and more art work from the Friends will be on display for a one-night reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 at Main Street Gallery, located at 625 Main Street. Please join us for an evening of art, live music, and light refreshments. The event is free and open to the public. Artwork and handcrafted merchandise will be available to purchase with proceeds benefiting the individual artists and Friends Life Community. All proceeds benefit Friends Life Community.
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.