As part of a new educational program developed by EPB with help from UTC’s Southeast Center for Education in the Arts, 12 Hamilton County high school students have been selected as winners in the inaugural “ArtSpark Goes to School Challenge.”
Under the theme of “The Beauty of Electricity,” the students designed artwork that will be turned into vinyl wraps to cover EPB utility boxes in downtown Chattanooga.
The winning students, schools and locations of the artwork are:
- Coolidge Park, North Shore: “BarkBark” by Hannah Houston, Center for Creative Arts
- Downtown across from the Children’s Discovery Museum: “The Beauty of Electricity” by Sarah Bargerstock, Hixson High School
- Downtown, Riverfront Parkway: “Scenic City Lights” by Jayy Whitehead, Anya Roth, Caitlyn Whitmire, Jessica Song, DeNasia Lewis and Dillon Kosik, Hixson High School
- Downtown at Seventh and Broad streets: “Untitled” by Maya Varner, Center for Creative Arts
- Southside near Finley Stadium: “Untitled” by James Stamper, Rosana Gomez and Alejandro Sanjojo, The Howard School
An EPB utility box, the device that will be wrapped by the students’ artwork.
The “ArtSpark Goes to School Challenge” reached out to high school students through STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) education to learn about electricity while creating artwork for public spaces. The goal was to provide students a real-world project that simulated the experience of a professional artist.
Curriculum for the classes that took part in the competition was developed by Joel Baxley, director of Visual Art Education at the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts.
“The opportunity to develop a STEAM-based unit of study with learning opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of visual art reflects our center’s mission,” says Laurie Melnik Allen, executive director of the SCEA. “We’re committed to transforming education in and through arts by cultivating campus and community partnerships that integrate elements and processes rooted in an artistic discipline.”
The winning artwork came from the classes of Lacey Jones and Katie Claiborne at Hixson High School, Justin Black and Chad Burnette at the Chattanooga High School Center for the Creative Arts and Sherry Heinz at the Howard School.
“The creativity of our students is inspiring,” says EPB Director of Environmental Stewardship and Community Elizabeth Hammitt. “The dedication of these teachers to our students’ success and the great work they are creating is something we can all be proud of.”
