The walls and spaces around Chelsea Middle School have gone from drab to fab thanks to Chelsea Middle School art teacher Katy Thompson and her students.
In one hallway, brightly colored student collages of cats, dogs and birds are on display. In the glass hallway, stained glass art lines the windows and brightens the area where the students walk between classes.
Several larger pieces are on permanent display throughout the school. A Chelsea Middle School piece in blue and white, the school colors, greets students and welcomes visitors in the lobby entrance. A 4-foot by 8-foot black canvas with colorful bird wings reads “Find your wings and fly” outside the gym. And a colorful piece featuring squares and a whimsical tree in the counselor’s suite reminds everyone to “Be Kind.”
“We’ve been talking about it for a while — ways we could spruce up the school,” Thompson said. “Over the summer [Principal] Mrs. [Cynthia] Cruce and I were emailing back and forth to come up with ideas of what we wanted and how to make it happen. At the beginning of the school year, she bought all the supplies. My intent was for the teachers to do it, but instead we let the students do them.”
The pieces were created by all of Thompson’s classes during the first week of school and hung up for display. She said while the large pieces of art will remain in place, the smaller pieces will be rotated throughout the year. She plans to add more large paintings each school year.
Art is a popular elective at Chelsea Middle School. Thompson has five classes each day: two seventh-grade and three eighth-grade classes. While the eighth-grade classes last the entire school year, seventh-grade classes last half the year.
While her classes are a bit smaller than last year, Thompson said she can do more things with smaller classes.
Each day, the students begin their class with a prompt to draw in their sketchbooks. Thompson said she enjoys seeing the variety and creativity displayed and that no two are exactly alike.
From 2D and 3D drawings to working with clay and creating sculptures, Thompson said she likes to make her class interesting. Students not only get to paint and draw, but also create with other mediums.
“The seventh graders made sushi plates and bowls and eighth graders made clay mugs,” Thompson said. “The students will get to enjoy a special snack using their plates and bowls and enjoy hot cocoa and apple cider using their mugs.”
Seeing their works displayed throughout the school gives her students a sense of accomplishment.
Maggie Lartigue said she likes seeing her art hanging on the school halls, as well as the aesthetic it gives the school.
“People come up to me and say, ‘I saw your drawing and it’s really good,’” Lartigue said. “The halls were so depressing before, now it’s more alive.”
Summer Mundy shared that art class gives her a sense of accomplishment.
“I get to be proud of what I did and have a lot of fun learning what I’m actually good at,” she said.
Christina Nguyen likes creating things she’s never done before.
“I like getting creative and it’s the period where I get to not think too hard about it and can just let myself flow and be creative,” she said.
Lilly VandeVoorde has art first period and said it’s a great way to start her school day.
“It’s a very fun and relaxing thing to do,” she said. “You get to have fun and be creative.”
Now at the halfway point in the school year, Thompson said there is plenty more to come.
This month, the students will take a field trip to Orbix Hot Glass in Fort Payne to blow glass ornaments. In March, they will go to Sloss Furnace to do iron pouring. In the spring, the eighth-grade classes will have a sidewalk chalk contest and winners receive a stained glass trophy at the awards day at the end of the school year.
Thompson recently received a Nick Grant from the city of Chelsea and plans to purchase a Cricut Maker 3, which can cut, draw, emboss, engrave, perforate and score a variety of materials. Thompson plans to use it to make items including paper lanterns and picture frames and use vinyl to make screen printing.
What Thompson said she loves most about her job is sharing her love of art with her students.
“I love when kids get it and you see the lightbulb go off,” she said. “That’s rewarding. Seeing them work through problems and being successful and sharing my love of things with other people.”