Jessica Bai ’16, Sarah Barr ’16, Amanda Molitor ’14: For the second time in three years, The Episcopal Academy Art Department sponsored the Wearable Art Contest. The contest, first conceived of by Upper School art teacher Hilary Hutchison in 2011, was brought back to the EA community after a one-year hiatus. Hutchison planned the timing of the contest, which occurred on April 25, to coincide with Earth Day as students are encouraged to use the contest as a means to generate awareness of the importance of recycling and environmental stewardship.
“The Wearable Art Contest is a competition in which students create a wearable piece from recycled or found materials. This includes branches, trash bags, scrap metal, and loads of unconventional materials,” stated Emily Rhodes ’14, one of Hutchinson’s Honors 2-D Design students.
“It’s a contest where you use recycled materials to make something creative and beautiful, like jewelry, ” added Shabri Worthey ’14, another student in Hutchison’s Honors 2-D Design class.
Rhodes and Worthey are only two of the many participants in this contest. Many students become involved through their art classes, but the contest is open to any Episcopal student who wants to participate.
By requiring materials not typically associated with the artistic process, the contest intends to draw attention to recycling by stressing the numerous uses of an object. Hutchi
son hopes to challenge students to think creatively and look at “worthless” objects from a new perspective.
“[The contest] helps students figure out and problem solve on their own without the voice of an adult telling them what to do. I will definitely keep having this contest-
-it’s fun,” Hutchison explained.
“Two years ago,” Hutchison added, “a student blew me away with his project. He made a “puffy vest” using zip lock sandwich bags filled with hand-dyed paper shredding and stitched each bag together with twist ties.”
Rhodes, Worthey, and all others who competed were required to design individual pieces of handmade clothing or jewelry while exhibiting their creativity, recycling, and repurposing skills. They then had to wear their creations in front of a panel of three judges, who chose Rhodes as the winner. Rhodes created multiple pieces jewelry from a broken laptop and and old record. “I fashioned a cuff bracelet from a melted vinyl record and a bent circuit board, a necklace from a green chip and a “home” key, a ring from a blue chip, a bracelet from computer keys spelling “NERD<3,” and a gauntlet bracelet with copper wire and copper computer casing, and a ring made from a computer fan motor attached by a gold chain,” said Rhodes.
“As a 2-D student,” Rhodes explained in retrospect, “I was initially a bit daunted by the idea of creating a solid, wearable work of art. However, I went through my attic for inspiration and found that the contest was enabling me to see old junk with a new perspective. I began to mentally, and sometimes physically, break down anything from old computers to board games into collections of parts, with each individual part capable of serving a multitude of purposes. I think this skill of being able to analyze the many shapes that make a whole object is useful not only in art, but in everyday life.”
Worthey also agreed that the contest was able to put a new spin on judging an object’s value. “I think it is a really good idea to recycle and also to reuse instead of always just throwing the thing away.”
Just as key, however, was the contest’s ability to teach these lessons in such an engaging manner. “I’ve found,” concluded Rhodes,”that this contest really fosters creativity, and any aspiring artist would benefit and have fun by participating!”