PROJECTS ARCHIVE

A WONDEROUS GARDEN
Collaborating Service Organization: Raleigh Girls Club
Instructor: Meredith Brickell

The participants worked collectively to create an image of a North Carolina garden. Hand building with clay, they made the soil, the plants, and the animals that make up a garden.

The youths began the project by making small clay pots and planting seeds in them to create a living garden. The youths created a huge “plan” utilizing collage, drawing, and writing, as they discussed the garden and the various plants and animals that might be included.

Each week Brickell instructed the kids in the creation of specific elements of a garden. She brought in images and living objects for the participants to look at, touch, and discuss. Brickell demonstrated simple ways to construct these elements and the youths used clay to make tomatoes, a variety of flowers, bees, butterflies, sunshine, etc. The clay objects were fired and then glazed by the youths.

The complete large-scale garden installation will be on view at Artspace before traveling around the community and finding a permanent home at the Girls Club.

Meredith Brickell is a studio artist working in Raleigh, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Environmental Design from the School of Design at NC State University. After completing her undergraduate degree, she cultivated her interest in ceramics through the NC State Crafts Center. To further her education, she studied at Penland School of Crafts for two years as a Core Student. Meredith completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in 2005 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently completed the Emerging Artist Residency Program at Artspace.