The Unlimited Horizons program once again had the opportunity to partner with the Storm King Art Center to learn about and create sculptures inspired by a specific exhibit. Students in the program, which is housed at Horizons-on-the-Hudson Magnet School, studied The Crisis, a newly installed piece by the contemporary artist Rashid Johnson. According to the Storm King website, “the work is titled after Harold Cruse’s 1967 study, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, an influential volume from the Civil Rights movement, but also references current events.” The piece, a gridded, sixteen-foot tall yellow steel sculpture, is set within one of Storm King’s native grass fields. 

Students in the kindergarten through fifth grade classes met with a Storm King educator to discuss the primary themes of the work, the process used, some of its components and the artist’s intent through recordings of his own words. Students were then encouraged to create sketches of markings while listening to jazz music that were later used as part of their own construction.

Following the meetings, Storm King provided each student with materials to use for their own sculptures, as well as specific instructions and guidance for the Unlimited Horizons teachers. These included individual plants and soil, modeling clay, straws and pipe cleaners. The students’ work and their reflections about the process were compiled into a single book using the Book Creator program.

The Storm King Art Center has been a community partner of Horizons-on-the-Hudson Magnet School for more than eight years, supporting the school with field trips to the museum and other cultural institutions, educator workshops and other resources.

Story and photos submitted by Ms. Mala Hoffman. 

Click through to view the book compiled of student work here.