Sehome art students and teacher upcycle into imaginative pieces

“Are we willing to learn the stories?” Those are some of the thoughts art teacher Randelle Crawford mused about this past school year while teaching art to her students.

Mid-school year, cardboard pieces were displayed in the hallway depicting both real people and well-known fictional characters. Crawford shared a bit about the art project, the curriculum it touched on, and what she asked her students to think about as they created their pieces made of upcycled material.

Joining their upcycled artistic journey, Crawford created her own art piece re-using (upcycling) student tardy slips. The creation Late Again tries to take in and understand each student’s personal story for being tardy. [See her five foot tall creation (and some zoomed in images) by scrolling to the end of the student art photos above.]

• Can you describe what the expectations were for this cardboard project?
  CRAWFORD: Students were invited to pick a person they admire– from history, culture, or from their personal lives to use as their subject. Later they wrote about and shared their choice. I was thrilled at the choices, especially of people who made scientific discoveries, contributions to civil rights, etc. Everyone from Einstein to Spongebob! We studied artists from around the world who are making art from found materials and upcycled materials, and we considered the environmental impact of packaging and of art itself. I challenged students to explore the three dimensionality of the human face, teaching them first to draw and shade a face so they understood form and proportion from a creative perspective. Among the expectations of the project were showing at least 4 layers/heights cardboard, exploring texture possibilities (shredding, curling, braiding, exposing corrugation, etc.), and exploring additional media, like graphite, charcoal, paint, plastic/transparent pieces for eyes, string, fabric, etc.

• Can you share some of the fun things that happened throughout this project? I imagine there was lots of sharing and laughs.
  CRAWFORD: It was fun to watch students exploring, adding idea upon idea. I loved sitting with a group of guys trying to cut, color and curl eyelashes. When the girls sat down to help, a certain expertise was added, and lots of laughs. Kids surprised me with their inventive additions of materials. I loved how I told kids they had to do three basic things and most went way over and above, doing 20 things with cardboard that I never imagined. They inspired each other. They had a blast.

• What would you like to say to your students and to all budding artists as you retire?  Any words of wisdom of finding time and space to create?
  CRAWFORD: Chinese artist/activist Ai WeiWei famously said “Everything is Art. Everything is Politics.” I tend to agree. We are all born to create. And to see the world through a creative lens. We are surrounded by a world that invites creative interpretation and expression. That is what makes us human. The trick is to find the media or the vehicle for this, whether it’s creating with ideas or physical things. There are many perfect answers to creative problems, and joy in the discovery is the joy of living. I would advise students and teachers to widen their perspectives on what is right or correct, and what is possible.
• Tell us about your own upcycled piece called Late Again.
  CRAWFORD: About the time I was exploring cardboard with kids, I started collecting tardy slips, thinking they could “be something.” Inspired by the famous words of Ai WeiWei, “Everything is Art. Everything is Politics,” I created this artwork out of tardy slips, safe place passes at the school, and counselor passes. It’s 5 plus feet tall, made with hundreds of tardy slips. I was exploring the personal and existential and political implications of being late to school, and saying through my art “I see you, late student.” Tardy slips come from a machine in the hall, but I know there is a story behind each kid with a tardy slip. Are we willing to learn the stories?

Crawford retired at the end of the 2024-25 school year after 38 years teaching art. She taught 30 of those years at Sehome High School in Bellingham Public Schools.