Glass is an uncommon art form for an elementary school classroom. But Mrs. Hopkins figured out a way to not only give her students at Jefferson Elementary in Normandy a valuable lesson in glass as an artform, but to ignite a whole new level of excitement for it.
The class first visited the Missouri Botanical Garden, where her students got to see the permanent installations by internationally-recognized glass artist Dale Chihuly. Paying attention to the shapes and movement of Chihuly’s work, Mrs. Hopkins class created their own “glass” installations at the school! They first used transparency film to color with permanent markers and heated with a heat gun to create a wall plate installation as a window display. Then they cut and stretched and heat gunned water bottles and soda bottles painted with acrylic to create a chandelier. Check out the photos of their display:
After creating and displaying their beautiful sculptures, the students took a field trip to our studios at Third Degree to watch Hot Glass Studio Director Dan Alexander and studio artist Addison Hanna create wall plates just like the ones they made!
Mrs. Hopkins’ class had a great time visiting our studios, and were intrigued by the process of transforming at gob of hot molten glass into a beautiful sculpture! We were so happy to host them!
Want to give your art (or science!) students a unique experience learning about how glass art is made? Check out our Live Demonstrations page, or give us a call! 314.367.4527.