Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Recycled Art: A Willow Glen Middle School student looks at a chair created by Alaina Parsons and Taniesha Ramirez, titled 'Caribbean Dream.'
Willow Glen Middle seventh-graders host gallery show of their own artwork
Karla Miller's class makes animal-chairs with recycled products
By Kate Carter
Student docents stood at the entrance of Willow Glen Middle School's art gallery to escort their classmates and other visitors through the display of chair sculptures created with recycled products to look like animals and mythical beings.
The gallery, a hallway in the art-and-computer building, was filled with eye-catching creations by students in Karla Miller's seventh-grade art class.
Among some 40 works on display were "Tropical Panda" by Zenira Rivera and Karla Sandoval, "Willow the Ram" by Sam Burgos and Edgar Gonzales, "Holly Jolly Christmas Zebra" by Michelle Blade and Stephanie Tran, and "Ele-chair" by Courtney Gibbs and Santina Pezzaniti.
Angelo Jimenez, 12, and Brian Chunn, 12, created Renaissance Boar out of cardboard, wood blocks, paper cups, yarn and paint. Jimenez said Miller asked them to create the beast in preparation for her planned end-of-the-year Renaissance Festival.
Romero and his partner, Sal Mercado, 12, made their work, "El Leon," out of cardboard, paper plates, paper towel and toilet paper tubes and foil. They created a structure to resemble a chair, and it did until "gravity came along," Romero said, and it slanted a bit to the side.
Regardless, they added papier-mâché and painted the exterior in red, white and blue.
Miller said that a number of her students have created artwork to reflect the patriotism of the past three months, employing the flag and its colors. One of the chairs was even created in the shape of a bald eagle.
Miller has been teaching the elective, year long class for six years, she said. The project was to encourage the students to create a usable piece of art, combining a chair with a "creature of the earth," she said. She collected old San Jose Unified School District chairs that were being thrown away, students brought old chairs from home and others created chair-like objects using recycled products. Small projects were done by individuals, and groups of three or four made the larger chair-animals.
Amber Box, 12, and Adriana Aranda, 12, used a chair as the base for their "Cool Cat" piece. They used cardboard to add backing, cardboard tubes on the legs and a paper plate and crayon box for the face, and painted the whole beast black with blue and purple stripes and splotches. They also added silk flowers and a black feather trim Box found at Willow Glen's Rose Mille.
The pair had originally planned to create a cheetah, but midway through decided to make a half tiger/half lion.
"It was sort of hard to come up with names, especially for two kinds of animal," Box said.
After the students made the objet des arts, Miller had them make illustration boards to show the different sides of the works and describe how they were built so one could recreate the pieces using different materials. The students each gave a presentation trying to sell their products, she said.
"I'm trying to get them to cross over into other curriculum areas," like science and the business world, Miller said, adding that the gallery is permanent and teaches the children about running a museum. The exhibits rotate; the current one will be on display Monday through Friday at the school, 2105 Cottle Ave., through January, she said, and then the pieces will be "adopted" and displayed throughout the middle school, Willow Glen High School or even businesses in the community.
For more information, call the school at, 408.535.6277.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
