Grade 10-12 students at Walter Murray Collegiate created pieces of fused glass art showing an Inukshuk. The learning involved in this project included understanding the meaning and history of the Inukshuk and the techniques of how to safely cut and work with various types of glass. This hands-on activity was extremely engaging for all students as it was a new medium for every student. It was particularly beneficial for students that struggle with drawing and painting, but still enjoy the art making process.
This innovative medium was exciting, and students are looking forward to continuing other glass projects in the future. The introduction of glass work helps to open students’ perspective of what is “art”. The tools and supplies funded from the SPSF programs of excellence grants will continue to be used by all grade 10-12 students to further explore this medium in future years. Grade 10 students will continue with the Inukshuk project, while future grade 11’s and 12’s will explore other glass projects. Eventually, this may be opened up to grade 9 students as well.
Students also had the opportunity to display their projects in the windows of the downtown office for part of the 2021-2022 school year for public viewing. Several inquiries were made on the creation of these pieces.
“The glass project my class did in visual art was an incredibly fun and exciting experience. I learned how to handle a new material and I was amazed after seeing it come out of kiln. I look forward to creating another glass piece in the future.”
Falecia Andrews
“Being able to work with glass gave me a new opportunity in art that I didn’t expect. The prompt given left me with creative freedom to experiment while still having a great result. The variety of glass colours and patterns were made the projects more interesting. I enjoyed it and would recommend others to try if given the chance.”
Sydney Wolter
“This year in art I got to experience glass work. Not only did I find it a lot of fun, the end product was beautiful. I ended up giving mine away as a gift to my mom and she barely believed it was made in school. I believe other students would enjoy doing the glass work as well, expressing yourself through all different types of art is just as important as any other class. This was very interesting to learn, and I truly hope I can do this again in the next couple years that I have left in Walter Murray.”
Tia Styles
Funding for this project was provided by SPSF as a Power Up Projects grant in 2021-22.