These mosaic benches are destined for spots in the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center.
Inspired by nature, 10 art students from Akron high schools have been working this summer with nationally recognized ceramicist Angelica Pozo to create benches for the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center (CVEEC) in Peninsula.
The eco-inspired benches will be unveiled at a free public celebration at the CVEEC’s November Lodge, 3675 Oak Hill Road, Thursday, July 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. The celebration will also feature live music by local eclectic Bluegrass band Fast Molasses, free food, and printed eco-themed T-shirts for sale by the students.
Designed to teach environmental responsibility, CVEEC's November Lodge features recycled and sustainable materials, geothermal energy for heating and cooling, and native and indigenous plantings that support biodiversity and use less water and fertilizers.
The bench project has been organized by Arts LIFT, an award-winning summer arts apprenticeship program created by the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art at The University of Akron. The program is supported by the Lola K. Isroff Arts Assistance Endowed Fund at UA.
Benches designed for specific areas
From June 16 to July 2 at the UA Myers School of Art in Folk Hall on campus, the high school students worked with Pozo to create unique benches with custom ceramic mosaics. Each bench will be designed for a specific area of the CVEEC: woodlands, wetlands and the new butterfly garden.
Akron Public School students joined UA art majors this summer to create this colorful "eco-benches."
The students also participated in a weekend retreat to the CVEEC and a trip to Pozo’s studio in Tremont, Ohio. Plus, Cuyahoga Valley National Park rangers and artists Aimee Sauls and Jerry Burris talked with them about conservation, preservation and how to assist in developing a community through art.
This is the eighth year that Arts LIFT, conceived and directed by Dr. Elisa Gargarella, an art education professor at The University of Akron's Myers School of Art, is bringing together professional artists, high school and UA art students, and local institutions to create permanent artworks that support conservation and ecological efforts in the Greater Akron community.
Arts LIFT projects around region
Previous Arts LIFT participants have created public artworks and major installations for Keep Akron Beautiful, the Akron Zoological Park, Crown Point Ecology Center, the Corbin Conservatory at Stan Hywet, the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center and for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association.
Since the program began, Arts LIFT participants have created six major installations that are functionally used or visited by more than 20,000 people annually.
For more information about the Arts LIFT program, call the Myers School of Art at 330-972-8325.
Media contacts: Elisa Gargarella, director of Arts LIFT, 330-972-8325 or gelisa@uakron.edu or Cyndee Snider, 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.