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Gloucester Daily Times Armchair adventure: Art students' creation promotes fundraising campaign |
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By Patricia Cronin After an expedition that led them past the craggy shores of East Gloucester
and through the thick brush and forests of Dogtown, students from Gloucester
High School unearthed a sea chest filled with buried treasure at Stage
Fort Park. At least that's the imaginative tale the students spun when their honors
art class was asked to decorate an Adirondack chair for Pathways for
Children. The oversized chair, which has been placed outside of the Gloucester police station, was unveiled during a ceremony Friday afternoon. It has become the emblem for the fundraising campaign "Chairs for Children: Take a Seat for Pathways," which will raise money for underprivileged children across Cape Ann. The proceeds will fill funding gaps for children's educational programs, such as Head Start. About 400 children in Gloucester, Essex, Manchester and Rockport are helped by the programs Pathways provides. |
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approached by Pathways, and we decided to do it," said Stefan Mallette,
18, a member of the high school honors art class that designed and painted
the chair. "I think it was a way to reach out to the community and
show what the art class has to offer." About 20 students in Dana Griffin's carpentry class made the pattern
and cut the pieces for the chair over three days, then carried it up
to the third floor of the high school so the art students could paint
it. Griffin said he did not tell students what they were making; he simply
gave them the patterns to cut. Once the pieces were assembled, he said,
they were satisfied with their creation. "With these kids, it's instant gratification when they see something
is complete," he said. Mallette and about 10 other art students worked on the chair for three
months. They dedicated 45 minutes a day, five days per week, to crafting
the story behind the chair, designing the map and undersea creatures
that appear on the base and painting the final version. They laid out the design on special paper and then affixed it to the
chair with a special glue. The drawings were then painted and sealed. A flier explaining the concept of the chair is available outside of
the police station. "It was really their project. They had full control of it,"
Advanced Placement studio art teacher Jacqueline Underwood said. "The
students really designed it themselves." The students were all invited to Friday's ceremony when the chair was
officially placed outside the police station on Main Street, a ceremony
attended by Rep. Anthony Verga. In all, 34 mahogany chairs, custom made by Scott Masi of York, Maine,
will be decorated by renowned Cape Ann artists and placed around the
city this summer. A donation of $10,000 from TD Banknorth in March allowed
Pathways to purchase 10 child-size chairs that will also be painted
by the artists. The finished chairs are scheduled to make an appearance in the Horribles
Parade on July 3 on a flatbed truck before they are auctioned off on
Sept. 16 to benefit Pathways. But the chair designed by the students will then be given back to the
high school. Last year, painted lobsters were auctioned off instead of chairs, raising
more than $130,000. |
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