After-school art
March is Youth Art Month
After-Story and photos by Jennifer Archibald Staff writer

Lifting up their art Four out of the nine students who made soft sculptures in after-school Art Enrichment classes are pictured above, l-r - Chris Mummert, Branton Leazenby, Michael Strawcutter, and Alex Plank.

A class of Art Enrichment students at Carroll Elementary tackled individual projects as big as they are.

They made life-size soft sculptures that look a lot like themselves.

Instructor Grace Woodruff said the sculptures are a blend of puppet, scarecrow, and doll.

She said making the "dummies" helped students understand body proportions.

One of the trickiest parts for the students, she said, was getting the facial features in the right place. For example, she said the eyes go half way between the top of the forehead and the bottom of the chin. The students used foam to build up the brow, and taped on pieces of light weight cardboard to make the chin and nose.

"I had to move the chin several times - and the nose," said fifth grader Michael Strawcutter.

He said the part he liked best was blowing up a balloon for the head and covering it with plaster.

Shaping the project Carroll fifth grader Dakota Stevens and teacher Grace Woodruff look at their own hands in determining the right amount of stuffing for Dakota's soft sculpture.

Mrs. Woodruff said except for the plaster-craft (plastercoated gauze), she brought most of the supplies from home, including leftover graduation balloons, fabric, old pillows, and plastic bags.

"I had 30 yards of flesh-colored ribbed knit fabric at home," she said. This became the skin for the sculptures.

Mrs. Woodruff said the students started with arm and leg kits consisting of sleeves and appendages, which she had sewn. The students used cardboard tubes for the skeletal structure, and used plastic bags and various stuffing materials to fill out the fabric and give the sculpture "body."

A torso was made from half a pillow, and a tin can served as the neck.

The sculpture is held together with thread, masking tape, and glue.

Because the students had to sew the arms and legs to the torso, they were given a quick lesson in threading, knotting, and stitching.

"I liked sewing it all together," said sixth grader Cassandra Proffitt. "It was the hardest part, but also the most fun."

Haircut Michael Strawcutter trims the yarn hair on his soft sculpture.

She has been the only girl in the nine-member sculpture class. The boys preferred to leave their sculptures bald or with just a few strands of yarn art hair. Cassandra said hers is a girl and will have a full wig.

The students brought clothes from home for dressing their sculptures. Chris Mummert dressed his guy in overalls, with a handkerchief sticking out of his pocket.

Making a soft sculpture was one of seven projects offered in the fifth grade Art Enrichment class, which was also open to sixth graders. The class has been meeting after school until 5 p.m. three days a week for nine weeks. Students can attend every class or just some, depending on the projects they would like to do.

Throughout the school year, Mrs. Woodruff has had similar sessions for other grade levels, with different sets of projects.

She said Art Enrichment is a supplement to regular art classes and is open to all students in grades 1-6.

"This is my 10th year," Mrs. Woodruff said. "I started out as a volunteer."

Art Enrichment is now supported by the Gifted and Talented program and Psi Iota Xi sorority.

"This year a grandparent contributed $100, making it possible for us to buy plaster- (craft, which is expensive," she said.

"Mrs. Woodruff teaches us a lot," said Casandra. "She pays attention to whoever needs help, and she uses our ideas to make the projects more fun."