Livingston’s HMS Students Create Wearable Art

Submitted by Livingston Public Schools.

Fifteen students at Heritage Middle School learned what life is like for a fashion designer recently when they created works of art which they modeled for judges at the school’s third annual Wearable Art Competition and Open House.

“Wearable Art Day is a way to express yourself so that others can see you,” said eighth grader Corinne Ferman, 13, as she worked on her Alice in Wonderland-themed hat for the competition. “We can share our designs with other people.”

She used artificial flowers, a teapot and Alice in Wonderland-themed Christmas ornaments to decorate her hat and even stacked small playing cards on top of it, and added a small bottle and the words “drink me.”

Some students made purses. Danielle Lee, a 12-year-old seventh grader, created her attractive small bag with red ribbons and soda can tabs. “I collect the soda can tabs and I wanted to do something with them,” she said, but noted that she had to purchase more to create her bag.

Corinne’s hat and Danielle’s bag were so impressive that they tied for first place in the competition and the students won a scholarship for classes at “Future Fashionistas,” a fashion design school in Livingston. Second place went to Natalie Kahn while third place went to Danielle Tufaro.

Brian Luster, a 13-year-old eighth grader, used moss and recycled pine bark to create a hiking boot for the competition. Initially, he was just going to use the pink bark for the boot. “I was not going to put moss on it, but then it just grew,” he said.

Gabrielle Tartakovsky, a 13-year-old eighth grader, designed a hat inspired by the rainforest and the coral reef. She drew colorful tropical fish, frogs, shark, and a banana. “It is sad to see the beauty of nature is dying because of humans,” she said.

Rachel Katz, a 13-year-old 7^th grader, said the special day taught her how to budget her time and express myself. “I made a hat with a bird to wear to an elegant occasion like the royal wedding.”

Thirty-five Heritage Middle School students applied to participate in the program and 15 were accepted for the “in-school field trip,” noted Lucille Barresi. The program is a joint effort of the school’s art and consumer science programs and the hard work of Barresi, and teachers Jennifer Larsen and Jennifer Sarracino, who also served as the day’s judges.