Reflecting on the Art Sanctuary

The body of work that I had created was meant only to be the spark that lit the flame of creativity inside of the hearts and souls of my school community. My hope is that the Art Sanctuary continues to evolve for years to come, and inspires students from varying grade levels to want to collaborate and further the progression of the wall, and garden. Since the installation piece was used as my final project for my Experiments in Art Installation course, I was hesitant about using much assistance for my project from my students---as I was submitting it as an individual piece, and not a group. However, my favorite part of the Art Sanctuary are the stones that are decorated, and individualized by each and every one of my students. I am excited to see where student collaboration will take the Art Sanctuary---now that guidelines have been set.         Prior to starting the project, I was very new to using both wood, and spray paint. Creating large-scale outdoor installation pieces were outside of my comfort-zone. However, art was not meant to exist solely within ones comfort zone, but rather to test the boundaries, and learn from it. After spending over one hundred hours on the designing, and creating of this work, I am proud to say that I do feel as if I have grown closer in my relationship with both spray paint, & wood, and I am confident that I can be successful branching outside of my comfort zone---and learn a way to over-come my artistic obstacles. I plan to continue blogging my progress over the next year as the Art Sanctuary develops, grows, and evolves into an entirely different entity from what one had witnessed during this course.