Vanderbilt Alternative Spring Break, Pt.1
James Anderson was on the move, offering advice and help to the Vanderbilt volunteers on how to clean-up and polish their slip cast art objects. Kaisal, Emily, James (the Blur, Anderson), North and Shayaan get their pieces ready for firing.
Vanderbilt Week just flew by. Eleven inspired Vanderbilt students came and left, but not before leaving an indelible impression on Imagine Arts’ AmeriCorps Members, clients and staff. Since 2019, a contingent from Vanderbilt University in Nashville has been volunteering at Imagine Art during Spring Break, helping out with mostly physical labor. Not until this year have the Vanderbilt students got a taste of what IA is truly all about.
Six students began at the Evergreen Gallery on Evergreen Ave. and five were at the St. Luke Studio. Wednesday was a sight seeing day, and Thursday the two groups switched studios.
After AmeriCorps Director Rick Hernandez gave an orientation of Imagine Art’s history and significance, as well as a studio tour of the St. Luke site, the Vanderbilt ASB volunteers took part in art activities that were designed to challenge, entertain and instruct.
Hand Building with Clay
The ceramics studio was a hub of activity. Monday morning, after orientation, Tiara Kinnebrew began showing the students hand building techniques with clay. They used their imaginations to come up with the weirdest stuff like a cabbage, a pig, and some abstract piece, as well as the more traditional mug and pinch pots. The thing with clay, if they could imagine it then they could build it.
Slip Casting and Whistle Making
Monday after lunch, James Anderson led a slip casting workshop. Nothing like pouring slip into molds to build the ol’ self-esteem. The students could not believe how perfectly the molds worked, which made them all look like pros. (It helped that they were learning from one.)
On Tuesday morning, James instructed the Vanderbilt students how to clean-up their pieces and begin the polishing process before they were glazed or handpainted.
Tuesday, after James had finished with slip casting, it was onto whistle making with Jenna Easthope. She showed how to make clay whistles by following a basic structural design. For the most part, all whistles worked.
Completing a Job
Last year’s Vanderbilt Alternative Spring Break cohort started and mostly completed construction of six raised bed planters. This year’s group of volunteers spent the rest of Tuesday afternoon finishing the job by installing planks on the bottom of the planter boxes to contain the soil. Judging by these photos, last year’s weather was much colder. So cold that the construction had to be brought inside. This year’s group only dealt with a little rain and overcast skies, but other than that, temperatures were mild.
From left to right: Kaisal Shah, Emily Doehring, Connie Chen, North Hopper, Shayaan Essani
Meanwhile, at the Evergreen Location
At Evergreen Gallery the Vanderbilt ASB crew engaged with Imagine Art clients, helped with organizing the warehouse, planting a flower garden and got involved with the peer support program. This blogger was not there, but looks forward to accounts by others who were.
