The Pine Bush High School National Art Honor Society and the English as a New Language (ENL) after-school program at EJR teamed up for a fun art collaboration project!
The Monster Project all came about because Katie Johnson and Emma Russell, co-presidents of the National Art Honor Society, proposed that the students draw an original, unique character. The students did their very best work, creating fun, colorful characters.
What the younger students didn’t know was that the NAHS students were going to take their characters and bring them to the next level. Using the drawings, the high school students made the characters three-dimensional as clay creations. It took them nearly three weeks to sculpt and glaze the monsters.
Katie and Emma organized the entire project, getting NAHS members to work on the monsters. The students included Jenna Tracy, Caroline Barth, Christine Omosebi, Marlei Perez, Merideth Wright, Ava Saladino, Katie and Emma, under the guidance of art teacher Janice Barth.
Several NAHS members went over to EJR to bring the surprise gifts to the students, who had no idea they were receiving them. The younger students were happy to see the art students and were excited about what was in each of the gift bags. But no one peeked! They opened them at the same time. The joy on their faces was incredible! Which brought much joy to the artists.
It was a truly collaborative project, bringing together students from the high school and EJR.