Sigourney Art offers new programs

            The creative student minds in Rebecca Shaw’s Art Department have explored brand new artistic options at Sigourney High through a Metalsmith, Jewelry and Stained Glass program made possible by grants and donations over the past year.  

            According to Shaw, twenty-five of her students are working with metal or stain glass projects, and have started with a sunset pane glass project. Because of lack of space in the classrooms, students must take turns with their projects.

            “This is a new process for all of us,” Shaw said. “I’ve only taken one stained-glass class, and am learning as they are sometimes, but it’s working really well. I’ll have three students cut glass, then another three students soldering, making it easier all at once.”

            For their current project, students are required to follow a specific set of instructions. First, they cut out a pattern before choosing their glass. The pattern is traced onto the glass and, grinded to smooth out the edges. Copper foiling is placed around the edges before soldering the pieces together. A zinc frame is added to keep the pieces together, and then finished.

            “I want our kids to know there are careers available for stained glass and all these programs we are doing,” Shaw said. “One day, we can make jewelry sets with the stained glass to combine the program, which is very marketable.”

            Tristan Bell is among the first students to dive into metalsmithing work with Shaw, creating a lightning bolt badge. Bell started with a rectangular piece of metal, carefully designing his piece and cutting it with a saw. He used a file to smooth out the edges and used a separate gold-colored metal for the bolt itself soldered to the main piece. He continues to work with metal projects and plans on doing airbrushing as well.

            “Tristan really liked the idea you can do so much with metal,” Shaw said. “I give him ideas and he runs with them.”

Please view the January 17 edition of The News-Review for the full story.

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