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With a leaking juice box in her hand, Rebecca Scorzella, a ninth-grader at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, hurried to the utility sink in the school's basement art room.

Her friend, unfazed by the commotion, sliced open an empty bag of pita chips and strolled to the sink to rinse the bag's greasy interior.

The box and bag joined other junk food wrappers in a neat pile - fated not for a recycling bin, but for the skin of a figurative sculpture.

The girls started experimenting last week with their entry for this year's Olympics of the Visual Arts, a program run by the New York State Art Teachers Association that allows students in all grades to participate in artistic problem solving.

ND-BG, the only Catholic school that competes, has picked up nine plaques in the past six years and often topped bigger schools with better resources - making it "even a bigger treat to win," said Suzanne Jackett, group advisor and art teacher at the school.

This year, about nine students joined teams; some cut back on other extracurricular activities to devote time to the competition. They have four months to complete entries; categories range from illustration to architecture and sculpture to fashion design.

After researching sculptors and artistic periods, the sculpture team settled on an obesity theme. Students said the topic reflects contemporary American concerns.

During a recent visit by The Evangelist, the group toyed with balloons as the structure for an androgynous, curvy body that would eventually be covered in the food wrappers.

Ms. Jackett says the competition encourages creative solutions.

"We're living in a society that doesn't know how to think," she said. "This helps [students] to actually have to figure things out."

An ND-BG alumnus recently told her alma mater that her experience with the club taught her how to work well with groups, a desired skill in today's workplace.

A second ND-BG team's task is to design a paper dress that draws inspiration from contemporary fashions and mimics faux fur, scales and feathers.

Two students who are veteran fashion design entrants have already conceived and constructed a box of lifelike paper feathers, delicately brushed with different shades of gold paint. They experimented with bubble wrap and fingerprints to paint scale-like patterns.

Jennifer Cerutti, a freshman, and Taylor Cuomo, a senior, know they'll be at school until 10 p.m. the night before the competition - and on many weekends leading up to it.

Two years ago, Taylor's team created a dress that won "most creative," the competition's highest honor. It honored the life of singer Cher, featuring seven rings for the number of times Cher's mother was married and the titles of her songs scrawled throughout.

The group used coffee filters to mirror chiffon material. Glue dipped in hot water formed grandiose brass-colored embellishments.

The girls say the activity appeals to them because of the endless possibilities.

"It's fun," Jennifer said. "The results that we get out of it are always good."

(02/17/11) [[In-content Ad]]

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