NEWS

 

Students from the Community School of Davidson have dramatically transformed the storefront windows at 129 N Main Street with a vivid and captivating art display. The student art depicts a series of sinuous, brightly-colored tentacles winding up and down the storefront window.

Created by a class of visual art students at the CSD upper school, the artwork was inspired by the artist Yayoi Kusama. Born in Japan in 1929 and still creating art at age 94, Kusama is known for surreal art often focused on dots and repetitive patterns, abstract depictions of natural shapes, and mirrored installations that create a sense of the infinite.

CSD art teacher Jessica Jones said that interpreting Kusama was an excellent project for visual art students “because of the opportunity to work with pattern, repetition, and the challenge of reimagining what was originally a three-dimensional immersive display as a series of two-dimensional art pieces.” Jones explained that each individual tentacle was designed and created by a small group of mixed-grade students and the finished project was then proudly displayed in the large, central hallway of the upper school.

For the students, it is a new and thrilling experience to see their art displayed on Main Street. “Seeing their collaborative art displayed in the community fills students with excitement. It’s fulfilling to know their work has a place and purpose outside of school walls and that they are giving back to their community through creativity,” said Jones.

The idea for the art installation first began with a different CSD service project. A group of eighth-grade CSD students agreed to undertake a community service project to clean several of the storefront windows on Clark Row, which includes the buildings between 121 and 129 on N Main Street. The students washed storefront windows, swept away cobwebs, and removed the existing window covering of plain brown Kraft paper.

The eighth-grade service project led directly to the possibility of using the newly clean and empty windows as a showcase for CSD student art. The Kusama-inspired visual art project from the previous year was chosen for display.

Leslie Bragg, Student Life Leader at CSD upper school, teaches an 11th grade advisory group that focuses on community projects. The advisory group decided to volunteer for the art installation. While all of the students at CSD take foundational art classes, none of the 14 advisory students who installed the art were actually in the class that created the art. The installers first took time to consult with some of the artists and the art teacher. Next, they carefully planned the installation, arranging and designing the display to fit the window measurements. As a finishing touch, they added bright blue paper to provide a vivid background.

Bragg and her eager advisory students were provided access to the building on the morning of Friday, October 20. “The students worked quickly from about 10 in the morning until a little after noon, making use of natural light, because there was no electricity in the building,” said Bragg. Along with the original artwork, the students added informational signs to the windows giving attribution to CSD Upper School, CSD Visual Art students, and Yayoi Kusama. The students were excited that the installation would be completed in time for Davidson’s Fall Art Festival that Saturday afternoon.

Although no further Clark Row installations are planned in the immediate future, CSD students and teachers are eager to continue the collaboration. CSD art teacher, Miki Kato-Starr, is excited about the possibility of showcasing more student art in the adjacent Clark Row windows. “We have been considering collaborative art projects between students in the lower, middle, and upper schools, allowing students to write proposals for art projects created specifically for public display, and showcasing portfolios of work created over several years by advanced art students,” said Kato-Starr.

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