Cardboard Becomes A Stadium

The back of the 'Stadium'.

Darren showing us the baseball.

Where the motor will go for the players.

A proud artist posing with his 'in progress' sculpture.

In Darren Petersen's hands cardboard can become many things.  Cardboard is his medium of choice and with his imagination and dreams it becomes amazing things.  Darren, a student at Hope University, enjoys imagining what his sculptures could do if they were real.  He has created cardboard sculptures of objects such as boats, street sweepers, airplanes and even a helicopter.  This sculpture is of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.  Darren dreams of sitting in stands as he sculpts, he pictures the players on the field and the ball soaring into the outfield with cheers for a home run coming from the crowds.  There are plans to install a motor, lights and a fan to blow 'fireworks' just like at the game.   Fred Mezzo, a fellow Hope University, student has been assisting Darren in this sculpture.  Fred has been working on the people that will populate the completed piece.
"It helps to have someone else work with me on a project because things get done a lot faster." Darren explained about Fred.
"I am just glad to have help, I can really use it."  He adds.
We are all excited to see how the 'Stadium'  turns out.  Both Darren and Fred are very enthusiastic about this collaborative sculptural project.

Guest Artist Tom Walker

Kimmie N. shows off her creation.

Karen L. basks in the simplicity of her metal design.

Tina G. and Michelle E. are proud of their metal sculptures.

 A student explores the play of light and shadow on the metal.

Three metal sculptures.

Tom Walker demonstrates with a jack-o-lantern in metal.

Darren P. and Carol W. concentrate on their designs.

In August we had a guest artist come to Hope University.  His name is Tom Walker and his medium is metal.  He makes sculptures both large and small using metal to create his art.  Tom brought with him some rolls of wire which he cut into smaller lengths.  Each student was given a length of wire with which to work.  He showed the students some examples of shapes to make, like a pair of glasses or a bicycle and talked about how to work with the wire.  It looks almost like sketching in three dimensions! The students really enjoyed working with the wire and having a guest artist come to teach is such a treat!  We are all very thankful to Tom and hope he can come back again to help us create more art.
"I made a dolphin."
Lori Slikker
"I made a penguin and an Orca whale."
Tanette Tuttle
"I made a flower."
K.
"I made a snowman."
Bradley Clayman
"I made a Christmas tree."
Darren Crow
All of the students were inspired by Tom, he really brought out their metal creativity!

Medium Diversity

Hope University's curriculum is art centered.  We offer many different ways to learn with and through the arts.  We offer several music classes, poetry and writing along with visual arts such as drawing, painting, printmaking and fiber art.
Some of the students favorites are:
"I like to do mosaics and sculpture."  Fred M.
"Using the knitting loom." Ana P.
"Designing products for us to make and sell in our Boutique." Margaret K.
"Drawing and carving linoleum block prints."  Tanette T.
"Knitting and creating things with yarn, like purses and products for our Boutique." Lori Slikker.
"Performing on stage, doing drama and learning how to play the drums. " Chris F.

Darren in the cabin of his helicopter sculpture.

The helicopter sculpture.

Darren explaining how things work in his interactive helicopter sculpture

Here we have some photos of  Hope U student, Darren P.  He is showing us his large sculpture of a helicopter.  Darren's favorite medium is cardboard and masking tape.  He creates his large sculptures over a wooden frame and includes electronics.  He likes to do the wiring and circuits so he can see things light up and move.  Darren has created many sculptures, one being the 'Robot' which we use in the 'Beau Monde Float' performances.  Darren's abilities are explored here at Hope U. with visual art as well as the written word.  He has written several poems, including 'Cleaning up the Drive-Thru at Taco Bell' featured in the 'Very Special Arts' exhibition and the CORE 6 show.