AUBURN — School may be over for the year, but fifth-grade students from Park Avenue Elementary School will have memories to carry with them as they think back on a creative experience brought to them by L/A Arts.

During the first week of June the students worked with multimedia artist, Catherine Judge, creating massive inflatable sculptures.

Judge spent a week with the students, working through the creative process to arrive at the final creations. She began by discussing the nature of sculpture and the materials that artists can use to express themselves. As an example, she showcased one of her own installation works and explained her working methods. Students then gathered in small teams to create their own scale models, which they presented to their classmates. Finally, each class voted on one project to create as a group. 

The themes for the sculptures tied closely with the study of ocean environments that each class had been learning about. Lisa Begin’s class created a submarine, complete with periscope. The top of the sculpture included realistic renderings of aquatic creatures. 

Annmarie Babicki’s students created a statement piece exploring the dangers to ocean life through pollution. 

While L/A Arts has been providing artist residencies and performances to various schools in Lewiston-Auburn for more than 30 years, this is the first time Judge has been on the roster.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring new artists like Catherine to work with students of this community,” said Tara Lagana, L/A Arts education coordinator. “It’s always so satisfying to see the creative process in action, connecting the arts to the other learning processes and engaging so many different styles of learning.” 

The L/A Arts Park Avenue residency was supported by the Auburn School District.

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