Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, May 12, 2010

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Millcreek students took turns chipping away at the background of 10 stepping stones they designed.

Students at Millcreek Elementary have set their ideas in stone as part of a schoolwide art project tied to the stream restoration out their back door.

A husband-and-wife team of artists-in-residence spent a week guiding students with small hammers and chisels as they finished stepping stones that promote ecological awareness and preservation of water and wildlife, as well as a sundial to house a time capsule that will be sealed this summer.

“We’re going to make art by subtracting, by taking away,” stone sculptor Albert Nelson explained to a group of third-graders one afternoon.

To make his point, he showed them a picture of himself standing on a huge piece of rock that he later transformed into a baseball glove. (“Let’s Play Ball” is displayed in a Louisville museum.)

A sculptor must “see” what’s trapped inside the stone – whether a baseball glove or a dragonfly, explained art educator Penny Nelson.

The Millcreek project, which was made possible by an eco-grant from LexArts and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, reinforced classroom concepts.

“To actually sculpt and see a raised surface, they begin to understand,” said visual art teacher Caryn Raskin, whose students had practiced carving soap and plaster before tackling stone.

The Nelsons set up several workstations on the school’s back porch, which overlooks the creek and restored habitat. At one table, kids sorted through bins of small stones looking for pieces shaped like the 50 U.S. states – an impromptu geography lesson. Nearby, classmates got a feel for the tools as they carved their initials into practice blocks.

In the center area, a line formed as students took turns chipping away bits of the patterned stepping stones.

“You have to be gentle with the rock,” said third-grader Tommy Holmes.

Each child then took his or her nickel-sized chunk to Albert Nelson, who sanded and shaped it into whatever the student envisioned in the rock. They came away with stars, music notes and dragon wings, to name a few. Teachers attached yarn to fashion keepsake necklaces.

Earlier, Raskin had sent the school’s stepping-stone designs to the Nelsons, who prepped the 10 pieces for the kids’ hands-on work at Millcreek.

“They do the first step and last step,” Penny Nelson noted. “They make the pictures and carve it out.”

Raskin had helped the kids research the types of animals that might live in their stream habitat, and they illustrated the stepping stones with reptiles, mammals and birds as well as images representing scientific inquiry, like a magnifying glass. Each stone also included science vocabulary words carved around the edges, such as “gills,” “exoskeleton” and “warm-blooded.”

“It’s based on wetlands,” said 9-year-old Hailie Martin, who noted that “creek days” in science lab this spring gave them a chance to pick out elements to highlight. “In carving, you get to be creative and do what you want to do,” she added.

In the long run, the artists and educators want the kids to see how their imaginative ideas and collective efforts evolved into a lasting statement on the Millcreek campus.

As sculptor Albert Nelson put it, “It’s a way for them to realize they’re leaving a legacy.”