Student Artwork Becomes Permanent Display at Urbandale High School

Schools regularly display student work, but Urbandale High School recently took the idea further.

Two student-designed sculptures recently became a permanent display outside the school.

The full-sized sculptures are the result of junior Kenzie Knight and senior Cole Jeanblanc's final projects in Chris Kimble's 3D Art class last year.

Each year, Kimble's class uses real-world concepts in final projects by creating a dialogue of a public art piece and use one element of that piece in their own work of art.

"We go through the different mediums -- ceramics, carving, papier mache -- all these different mediums of making 3D art," Kimble said. "You don't get to spend a lot of time on one thing, so for the final the students can spend it on one thing they like."

When the final project is complete, each student's artwork is judged by volunteers in the Urbandale Public Art Committee.

In the past, the committee would choose a winner based on if the project were to be created to scale. The winner would typically receive a fun prize.

That all changed last year.

In finding public art for his students to explore, Kimble contacted Quality Manufacturing in Urbandale. The company has several art pieces on the property, but Kimble wanted to first get permission to have students visit.

Paul Hauser, manager of drafting for Quality Manufacturing, agreed to let students visit the artwork on the company's site, but also proposed that Quality construct the winning design and install it.

Hauser and Tom Carder, project managers at Quality, sat in on the judging of the final projects in January.

"It was initially just one sculpture," Kimble said. "But Tom couldn't choose between two, so he decided to make both."

Kenzie's "The Dance of Life" sculpture came from her desire to incorporate UHS, as well as a sculpture from the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden in Des Moines.

"Using what we had learned in class and just being creative really got me going on this project," she said. "There were so many amazing ideas from other students I was so shocked when mine was picked."

Both Kenzie and Cole were able to take part in constructing their sculptures, with Cole even welding a piece of this sculpture, "Reaching Hand."

"It was so cool being able to work with Quality Manufacturing on the layout and design of my sculpture," Kenzie said. "It got me super excited, I could barely wait for it to be finished, the whole process was a lot of fun."

While Kenzie wasn't sure how 3D would go for her at first, she's glad she took the course.

"I'm more into 2D art than 3D, but after finishing that class I'm not sure anymore," she said.

In the end, "The Dance of Life" became a 12-foot 9-inch, 2,000-pound sculpture.

Cole's "Reaching Hand" became a 20-foot long sculpture made of Cor-Ten Steel, weighing in at 3,800 pounds.

"It's just fantastic," Kimble said of the sculpture concepts and work with Quality Manufacturing. "I just think it's exciting to have some actual artwork at the school. It is a beautiful new bundling, but this kind of pretties it up with some fine art."

While Kimble isn't sure if additional sculptures will be made from new 3D art course, talks are continuing with Quality Manufacturing. If new sculptures were to be constructed, they would most like be place in different areas of the city.

One thing is for sure, the class left a lasting impression for students.

"I think 3D art is an awesome class for all students and it is definitely one to take," Kenzie said. "Having my sculpture life size is more than I ever could of asked for, it is so cool seeing it outside the school! I never dreamed that was possible. The project was super fun and I loved every minute of it."