Wayne Allen | Daily Times
Steve and Shelly Deacon check out some of the sculptures in downtown Portsmouth.
Wayne Allen
PDT Staff Writer
The creations of Portsmouth High School art students are now on display around the city. The students used 35,000 feet of packing tape in the creation of several sculptures depicting different aspects of local life.
The sculptures are anticipated to be on display through Friday and are a part of a community art project called “A Walk Through Community.”
A kick-off event was held for the exhibit on Monday night on the Roy Rogers Esplanade in downtown Portsmouth.
“There are 13 different sculptures located from the esplanade all the way down to the front of the (Portsmouth) High School,” Portsmouth art teacher April Deacon said. “Each of those sculptures represents a different aspect of community the students felt were important and should be celebrated.”
She said those aspects include business, literature, music, art, love and many others.
When asked what the inspiration behind creating the exhibit was Deacon said, “I had been approached by Mr. (Portsmouth City School District Superintendent Scott) Dutey to do a special project for the spring and I had always wanted to do a public art project. So, I taught my students about public art and through this process I wanted them to think about community.”
She said it took about two months to complete.
A pamphlet for the “A Walk Through the Community” was given to each of the participants of the kick-off event that gave thanks to the Paul E. Johnson Memorial Fund, Main Street Portsmouth and First Ward City Councilman Kevin Johnson for their support of the event.
The first sculpture along the display walk’s route, literature, is located on the esplanade in downtown Portsmouth. From there, the sculptures are staggered along Gallia Street to the school property and onto the baseball and football fields. Along with the sculptures, students from a Portsmouth High School English class are also wrote a poem or essay to accompany each piece.
Participating students included, Kayla Altman, Corrin Barker, Destiny Campbell, Jayllen Carter, Jessica Calley, Roger Henderson, Janell Kinney, Mazie Lawson, Jaqueline Lester, Katherine Meriwether, Morgan Penix, Rebekah Pettersen, Nia Reeves, Emily Rowland, Jason Rowland, Zac Shugert, Nathan Thompson, Alexis Tucker, Tanaia Underwood, Tyra Underwood, Cirrus Vassar, Bre Winters, Joe Amburgey, Lori Keaton, Ashlyn Loveless, Mollie McCain, Sarah Raies, Izzie Sturgill, Maggie Sturgill, Julia Sutherland, Pajah Williams and Desta Zerayesus.
Deacon said she would love to continue to do public art projects as long as there is support.
Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 228, or tallen@civitasmedia.com. For breaking news, follow Wayne on Twitter @WayneallenPDT.
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