The GlenOak art students had a field trip to the parking lot last week.
The Plain Township Road Department dropped off paint and snowplows; the students’ jobs were to paint them with designs previously selected by the township.
This trip taught students how to work with others, gain insight on how this year will look, and what art as a career could look like.
The Plain Township Road Department had been working with the art department for a while before this trip. They first reached out to the art department seven years ago.
During Covid students were unable to paint the plows. Last year’s students were unable to paint plows due to winter weather. The decision was made to move up this project to September to allow for the chances of better weather.
This year’s designs were created by sophomores Hadley Fox and Kat Drewniak. Enriched Arts II students brought these designs to life.
“They have asked us to do this because they want the plows decorated for when they use them in the winter,” art teacher Jill Balderson said.
According to Balderson, this trip is not just fun, it helps unite the art community in a district that is so large and diverse.
“I think it is a great opportunity to raise awareness to the community that art students are doing these fun events. And it is not just fun, it is helping to unite us as a community,” Balderson said.
In art classes, students learn to create for others, and sometimes themselves. This trip teaches the art students more about that experience.
“It is good to prepare you, because artists are not just making stuff that they want to make, they also have to hustle and make what other people want them to make, so that they can make money,” Balderson said.
The art students have many other opportunities similar to this one. However, the student artists were especially excited to have their art displayed on something so big.
“Everyone will get to see it on the snow plows,” sophomore Ella Dunphy said.
According to Dunphy, the students had to work around the expected size of the plows versus their actual size,
“I was surprised how short the plows were. I thought they were going to be massive, so it was kind of hard to paint on them,” Dunphy said.
The art students sketched designs for the plows, and the township decided what two would be best for the snowplows. The theme of these designs was "Snow Day.”
“The Plain Township Road Department gave that ‘Snow Day’ theme that students were supposed to craft their designs on, and I shared those images with them [students], and then they as a group they looked at all of the drawings and they said ‘I pick Kat, and I pick Haddie,’” Balderson said.
The students' designs that won were drawn, and painted on the snow plows. One plow was two snowmen having a snowball fight, and the other was two children making snow angels in the snow. The students painted for about 2-3 hours, and afterwards had lunch, which was pizza provided by the district.
The trip gave students an outside view of what art is like as a career, however, throughout the year, the art community helps with things like the musical to build on their experience.
“With Enriched II I think that it is important that I get [them] doing more than just in class assignments, that [they are] getting more involved with the musical, helping us paint the backdrop there,” Balderson said.
In art, it can be difficult to persevere and keep going, however, great opportunities can arise anywhere. This field requires students to get out of their comfort zone to build on skill, and this activity helped with that.
“In art it is important to stretch yourself but also self promotion is really important,” Balderson said.
Although this was fun, students also learned a lot and gained valuable experience. Students learned how to work together, how the rest of the year will look, and how many opportunities are really out there.
