CLAY CITY at Chelsea Heights
with Now. Make. Art
When we first began envisioning what a Now. Make. Art. residency at Chelsea Heights could be, we knew we wanted make sure whatever project we did with students, it would encompass our 5 guiding principles:
Playfulness
Process Focused
Youth-led
Vision making
Collective
We thought a perfect way to do that was with our flagship project, CLAY CITY.
At its heart, CLAY CITY is about imagining ways to create a better place to live alongside others in the community. However, traditionally CLAY CITY is a drop in event using earthen clay and the city only exists for the day. And while we love that version of the project, this was a chance for us to explore how to make a CLAY CITY that lives on.
We broke down the process into three sessions: Brainstorm and Vision, Clay, and Paint
This was our chance to get the students thinking big! We initially had students reflect on their current community, asking them what they notice about their neighborhood and St. Paul as a whole. Then, we also spent time exploring fantastical ideas that could exist beyond our current state. It was a chance for students to think about a city in the future and what that might look like.
We loved how engaged the students were in this process. One of our goals at Now. Make. Art. is to center the brilliant and creative ideas of young people. This was their chance to shine while sharing their vision. In all honesty, each class could have spent a whole hour just brainstorming!
Then, students worked in groups to take those ideas and put them to paper drawing their vision of a city. Some students worked as a team to bring all their ideas to life while others worked independently and found ways to connect their ideas later. These ideas are posted on the walls around the room.
We were blown away by the creativity of the students!
Session 1: Brainstorm and Vision
After spending some time ruminating, students brought their ideas to life in clay. Air dry clay isn’t the easiest to work with, so students learned a number of tips and tricks for how to best work with clay, including:
Make sure to use water to help avoid dry clay
Using water can act as an eraser and create smooth lines
Pinching the clay together is one of the best ways to secure pieces together
Seams must be avoided- they lead to cracks when it dries
Scoring and using slip can help create stronger connections
Pieces need strong, thick foundations in order to stand
Work from the bottom up with 3-D pieces
We were impressed with students’ ability to work with this difficult material and a selection of new tools. Students needed to revise their original plans in the face of challenges. And they practiced perseverance working with the fragile material. While there were a number of broken bits, most of the students' creations held up really well!
Session 2: Clay
After the students’ creations had time to dry, it was time to add color! We worked with both acrylic and watercolor paints, depending on the students' ages.
Using acrylic paint, older students were able to blend beautiful colors that really popped and focused on adding detail to their pieces.
Using watercolors, younger students focused on the dexterity and attention to detail required to fully coat their pieces with beautiful pastel colors.
Seeing these hundreds of creations enlivened through color was amazing!
Session 3: Paint
Throughout our time at Chelsea Heights, we noticed the sense of community among the students. We saw countless instances of collaboration and support. We had a number of students work together on their clay creations. And when a student wasn’t going to have enough time to finish, there was always a fellow classmate there to help sculpt, build, or paint.
One thing many students struggled with was the idea they wouldn’t be taking their pieces home. We let students know about how collective making can not only bring community together, but create something even better. We hope you can see how much more the Chelsea Heights CLAY CITY is with all of the students working collectively.
Reflections
Thanks for the opportunity to collaborate with your young people,
Alicia and Megan
