ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 2, 1996 TAG: 9612030139
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH DAY STAFF WRITER
From a chicken wire frame, Red Dog is taking shape.
A red ruler, Kermit the Frog Pez dispenser, Spiderman, Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid," Lego blocks, plastic monkeys, clown heads, a red feather, a little Frisbee and lots of other red toys give it form.
For several months, pupils have been attaching small red toys with wire to Red Dog and bringing it to life. Toys will be added throughout the year and eventually Red Dog will be displayed permanently in the ArtVenture lobby at Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke.
"Think of the larger shape and how each new toy added will become part of that shape," said Jenny Shamy, ArtVenture coordinator.
Breanna Fuller put "eyes" - a red Lego shape and button - behind Red Dog's star-shaped sunglasses.
Joel Linkenhoker put a Ferrari model car from a race track to form Red Dog's nose.
"The headlights make dots for the nose," Joel said.
Lauren Patton placed red lips from Mrs. Potato Head to give Red Dog a mouth, and she helped Eric Altizer tie a red marker top near the tip of Red Dog's tail - it dangled like fur.
Kayla Brandon looked at Red Dog and decided a red plastic hair bow belonged near the top of its tail. It fit the curve perfectly.
Ellen Allmon's 15 fifth-graders from Monterey Elementary School in Roanoke County knew about color, line, dimensions, texture and shapes. They learned from their art teacher, Doris Patton, who taught them before they visited ArtVenture. But "Plastic Fantastic: Toys in Art" in ArtVenture let them put their knowledge to work.
The exhibition, which runs through June, includes sculptures, photographs, paintings and computer art by nine contemporary artists from Virginia and New York.
To kick off their tour, a Junior League volunteer asked the pupils questions about art.
"What are the primary colors?" Jill Bolton asked.
"Primary colors are blue, yellow and red," Joel said.
Any color can be made with different combinations of blue, red, yellow, black and white.
"Adding white makes a tint color," said Brandon Pierson, who also explained 3-D while drawing a box on the rug with his finger.
"What is art?" Bolton asked.
"Art expresses how you feel," Joel said.
"Art is making stuff with paper," Brandon said.
"Creating, thinking and doing," Lenny Brown said.
The pupils were divided into four groups and sent to different stations to come up with creative solutions to problems and learn from their experiences.
One group used toys and a rear-view projector to stage a shadow puppet play. Others designed a miniature urban environment with toys and then took Polaroids. Pupils created new comic book characters out of clay.
For more hands-on experiences, the pupils entered the Art-In-Action Room with stations such as Composition Seesaw, Portrait of the Artist, Field of Vision, Surreal so Real, Frottage: The Field of Vision, Facing the Light, Visages: Masks of the World and a A Clearer View.
Casey Foster chose to make a "rubbing" at Frottage: The Feel of Vision station. She chose textured parts from panels hanging on the wall and the tile floor to create her picture with orange, purple and green crayons. Frottage is a technique in the visual arts of obtaining textural effects or images by rubbing lead, chalk, charcoal, etc., over paper laid on a granular or relieflike surface.
At Field of Vision, Brad Naff and Lenny Brown took sticks, a mask and a tennis racket and made the Lone Ranger. The objects had Velcro on them, so the kids stuck them to the wall.
Eric Altizer painted a portrait of Kayla Brandon at A Clearer View station. That's where two pupils sit on opposite sides of glass and take turns tracing each other's facial features with paint. Then, a torn piece of paper is gently placed onto the painting and rubbed to transfer the portrait. This creates a monoprint.
Kayla liked her picture and the ArtVenture experience.
"I love it because I've always loved art and drawing and everything here is just perfect."
"It [ArtVenture] is fun because there's a lot of neat things to do and see," Eric said. "You can touch instead of can't."
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER/Staff. 1. Fifth-graders from Montereyby CNBElementary in Roanoke County watch as Jenny Shamy (behind picture)
makes an imprint of Junior League volunteer Jill Bolton's (left)
face. 2. Joel Linkenhoker of Monterey Elementary adds a red toy car
to the snout of Red Dog at ArtVenture. color. 3. Pupils at Monterey
Elementary School prepare a skit during their visit to ArtVenture.