Funky Foods

Posted by Mary Murray on July 20th 2012 | 1 Comments

Tags: Museum of Art, Education & Programs, ArtReach

It’s July and that means ArtReach in the Museum of Art. Now in its 17th year, ArtReach offers kids from Utica’s summer playgrounds a museum and art-making experience.

Young artists from the Court Street Children's Center and their ArtReach installation

Shannon Stockbridge is one of the teaching artists who leads the youngsters in their two-day ArtReach visit. Shannon is a graduate of PrattMWP and a rising senior at Pratt Brooklyn, majoring in sculpture. This is her second ArtReach summer; last year she led students in a Buckminster Fuller-inspired geodesic-dome-building adventure.

Severin Roesen (American, 1847-71), Still Life with Fruit and Champagne, 1853, MWP Museum Purchase, 82.53

This year, Shannon drew inspiration from still life, what she calls the “fundamental starting point in art making,” but she gave it a Pop Art twist. She introduced her students, from Court Street Children’s Center, to Still Life with Fruit and Champagne by Severin Roesen, a painting in the MWP Museum’s permanent collection.

Then, in the classroom, Shannon gave a presentation about the artist Claes Oldenburg (born 1929) and showed the students images of his food sculptures.

The Court Street kids chose their own favorite food to create and. using papier-mâché over balloons, made it many times the actual food size. It was a delightful and messy experience. Shannon was really pleased with the results: “The project turned out even better than I had imagined! They all did awesome!”

Claes Oldenburg (born 1929), Assorted food sculptures

In the one north gallery of the Museum of Art, you can see these great food sculptures – drumsticks and broccoli to donuts and fruit – organized into the young artists’ very own still life installation.

"Hungry" Court Street Children Center's artists and their ArtReach food sculptures

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