Wearable art, the new rage for MCSD students
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LEWISTOWN -- After teaching high school art students in Juniata County for 17 years, Sara Sutton decided it was time for a change of scenery.
She packed up her paint, brushes and other supplies and took her teaching talents to Mifflin County High School. Sutton has spent this year getting to know her new students better, through a new elective class that also debuted this year called Wearable Arts.
"It's neat because I've learned so much about the personalities of my students," Sutton said. "It was a way to connect. It taught me about the music that they like or the books that they read."
The semester-long Wearable Arts course allows students to design art that they can wear.
"We focus on all different things that can adorn your body," Sutton explained. Unlike art projects on paper, students can paint on backpacks, shoes or clothing. Mistakes aren't as easy to handle because these items are much more costly than a sheet of paper.
Sutton let the students practice on raw canvas. For their latest project they were charged with creating a design for a wearable item that was inspired by an album or book cover.
Sutton was floored by the students' creations. Their first efforts were unveiled on a 6-inch-by-6-inch piece of canvas, or patch, with the final design on anything that they can wear.
"With every project, we do some sort of practice before the main project," Sutton said. "The samples are unique. They show a lot of personality. There was one student who did Taylor Swift, and another who designed her own book cover for a book that she was writing.
"It's interesting when you give them a direction and they make it their own, so it's like a prompt," she added. "They each got a piece of canvas, and they have to pin it on something. We practice to see how it would work on a textile, so they learn the process of paint medium."
Grading their work, Sutton said, "They nailed it!"
There were patches inspired by "Issues" an album by metal band Korn; "Street Worms," the debut album by Swedish post-punk band, Viagra Boys; and "Divide" by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran; "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Shelby Flint; "Doo-wops & Hooligans" by Bruno Mars; and Nirvana's famous smiley face.
For the final project, students could bring in any object that's durable and paint of them what they wanted. She was again amazed by the results.
"One student brought in a really great pair of Hey Dudes (brand name of shoes), which were the perfect canvas," Sutton explained. "They painted Disney characters on them, and they turned out really well." Another created pinned their raw canvas patch, which they turned into a buffalo plaid, and pinned it to a jean jacket.
"It was a cool punkish look with layered fabric," Sutton said.
A student designed her own version of a sweatshirt, themed by her favorite band, The Smiths. And another designed a shirt for his own barber shop where he cuts hair.
"I think they liked it because it's not your typical art painting class," Sutton said. "With this course, you're doing lots of new things. You are drawing and painting, yes, but you're dyeing fabrics, using Shibori which is Japanese tie-dying and making accessories like earrings and pendants."
Sutton said the Wearable Arts class is working with other classes at the school with projects.
"We're designing these pieces and the Visual Communications class is laser-cutting the pieces," she explained. "I don't want to limit my students," Sutton said. "I want to teach them the techniques and let them move forward. If they need 1-on-1 attention, I can give it to them."
Students started the patches in February and are being graded on their work in March. The patches project took about 10 days from start to finish.
"Some of them are already asking why there's not a Wearable Arts II," Sutton joked. Since the course is an elective, any student can take it.