 Creating
a Living Sculpture in Your Community
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Video: How to Avoid the Living Sculpture Graveyard
As
you get ready to plan your living sculpture project,
there are many ways to prepare. Of course, the fun part
is deciding what to create. Depending on what you choose
to do, this may be an exciting, yet challenging undertaking,
particularly if you settle on a public piece of living
sculpture. Here you’ll find a checklist of items
to consider as you plan. Some of these are specific
to living sculpture and others are more general - we
hope it’s helpful to you for this project and
others.
Project
leader checklist
 Some
Practical Starters
Strategies
for Implementing Activities
Site
Considerations
Activity
Design
Engaging
Youth in the Process
Connecting
with Others
Active
Learning
Fostering
Respect and Positive Group Dynamics
Creating
an Organized and Supportive Environment
Real
World Art and Horticulture
Ensure
that the Experience is Meaningful
Resources
Project leader checklist
Some
Practical Starters
- Look
through the activity in advance and gather all the
supplies you need ahead of time.
- Note
any special skills required, time required for creating
the project, and time that may be required for the
project to grow into maturity.
- Read
about maintenance needs well before you begin!
Strategies
for Implementing Activities
- Start
with an easier activity and build up to a larger public
piece.
- Allow
young people to do as much as they can instead of
describing it to them.
- Keep
the process simple and easy to follow.
-
Ask open-ended questions as you’re working together.
- Increase
difficulty appropriately and avoid making tasks overly
complicated.
Site
Considerations
- Living
sculpture projects will need full sun, good soil drainage
and access to water.
- Consider
how easily you can access the site with necessary
tools, equipment and materials. For example, can a
truck, filled with rolls of sod, park near this area?
Can willow stems be carried easily from where you
park? Will it be relatively easy to water your project?
- Vandalism
happens, but is certainly lessened by much public
involvement – people do not damage what they
own and love. That said, consider site security and
whether there are issues you need to address.
- For
more general garden-based information, please visit:
Cornell
Gardening.
Activity
Design
- Work
with young people to choose an activity that they
believe will be interesting, fun, exciting, and meaningful.
- Make
sure that the project is clear to young people and
that they understand what it is you’re doing.
- Whenever
possible, try one of the outdoor or on-site activities,
so that your living sculpture is in full view as part
of the community.
- Provide
the chance to enjoy the challenge of doing a more
difficult project after you’ve gotten your feet
wet. Appropriately stage the level of difficulty.
- Encourage
young people to share what you’ve done with
others through posters, presentations and other means.
Engaging
Youth in the Process
- Ask
young people which project they find interesting.
- Give
young people responsibility and voice in the project.
There are many activities to choose from, particularly
as you move toward larger public pieces. Engage their
thinking about what you might create, why it might
be most compelling for your community, whom you might
involve, and where the ideal location would be. Brainstorm
with them what resources are necessary, where donations
for materials could come from, and who has key skills
and might assist you.
- Build
on what they already know; how does living sculpture
relate to other topics and activities they’ve
been involved in?
Connecting
with Others
- Ask
nursery and garden center staff, cooperative extension
educators, or local college horticulture staff to
teach new skills, such as pruning and grafting. Although
as a leader you may be unfamiliar with these techniques,
there are likely others in your area that could help.
We hope that you don’t, for example, exclude
tree sculpture just because it may require some grafting.
- Engage
parents and family members in the project.
- Identify
others in the community with talents, skills and resources
related to living sculpture.
- Encourage
young people to share what they have done with others
and display their creations.
- If
you plan a larger work, engage others in the planning
process. “Who needs to know?” If your
living sculpture will be located on the school grounds,
don’t forget the grounds crew and custodial
staff. If you create a project in a community green
space, consider city or village officials, site neighbors
and others who may want to become involved, in addition
to administrators.
Active Learning
- Living
sculpture by its very nature lends itself to experiential
learning. Try hands on activities whenever possible.
- There
may be opportunities to learn new skills, such as
grafting and laying sod. Some of these skills are
particularly compelling to older youth that have done
the “seed in a cup” garden-based activities
numerous times (been there, and done that).
- Find
out what happens “if.” Imagine the results
of your work before you begin.
- Although
we offer guidelines, the youth may want to invent
their own approach to living sculpture.
Fostering
Respect and Positive Group Dynamics
- Let
young people know what is expected of them.
- Interact
with young people and seek their input into topics
of interest.
- Encourage
cooperation and group work at all levels of the project.
- Help
young people set achievable goals with respect to
any public works of art that they settle on. An outdoor
sod sofa might be more manageable than entire living
room suite, at least initially.
- Encourage
two- or three-way communication: leaders ask questions,
young people converse, young people ask questions.
- Encourage
young people to value other learning styles and approaches
to learning.
- Discuss
the value of what young people are doing in the community,
and even with the introductory activities.
- Find
out what skills young people have and what they already
know about art and horticulture.
Creating
an Organized and Supportive Environment
- Have
contingency plans for when difficulties come up. If
weather prevents your best laid plans from happening,
what might you do instead?
- Incorporate
time for discovery and messing about with materials.
- Before
you embark on a living sculpture in your community:
are you committed, interested, helpful and motivated?
- Avoid
demeaning comments and emphasize what young people
are doing well.
- Provide
appropriate encouragement to young people as they
are working. Sometimes this is hard work, and an installation
may take a day or more to complete.
- Encourage
a feeling of accomplishment when a project works,
as well as learning from what didn’t go so well.
- Try
to be sensitive to where young people are at.
- Emphasize
mastery.
- Take
time to get to know the young people in the project.
-
Focus constructive feedback on the process or activity.
- Challenge
the youth: hold high but realistic expectations.
-
Give young people guidelines for when to seek help.
-
Include food or snacks.
- Hold
a celebration at the project’s completion.
Real
World Art and Horticulture
- Link
your project with what others are doing; learn about
other approaches, and communicate with others about
your efforts.
- Do
something with “real artists.” Invite
others in your community to participate.
Ensure
that the Experience is Meaningful
- Start
the activity with a community issue kids may have
heard about.
- Help
young people understand, "why does this matter?"
- Engage
older kids in mentoring younger ones.
- Assist
young people in seeing the relationship of the living
sculpture to art, the garden, science, and the world
around them.
- Discuss
how a living sculpture project might contribute to
answering larger questions that are meaningful and
relevant to them.
- Build
in time to give young people a chance to critically
reflect on their experiences; encourage journaling
and other forms of critical reflection.
- Encourage
both group problem solving and time alone.
- Carry
the activity out over a period of time, instead of
only getting together with a group once.
- Talk
about other issues in young people’s lives as
a way to connect with them.
Adapted
from a Program Planning Tool, Developed by the 4-H Science
and Technology
Program Work Team, March 2003
 Printable
PDF version
Resources
- Getting
Started with Your Project
A
living sculpture project interests you but you’re
not sure where to start and who to get involved? Getting
Started with Your Gardening Program helps answer the
questions like where did the idea come from and who
will be involved? It also covers youth participation
and the importance of ownership as well as logistics
such as spreading the word and fundraising.
- Youth
Development
Meeting the needs of children and youth through
garden-based learning experiences…mastery, belonging,
generosity, and power. What constitutes an ideal experience
for young people? The ultimate goal of a project isn’t
always the finished product. Often the project is
a vehicle for growing competent, committed, reflective,
and caring young people. We’ve expanded our
notion of what constitutes and ideal experience for
young people, and have looked increasingly toward
the four themes of positive youth development, provided
several years ago to the CCE system by Dr. Cathann
Kress.
- Benefits
and Barriers to Youth Participation
It
is not uncommon to face questions or even meet with
a little resistance when trying to increase youth
participation or form youth-adult partnerships in
your program. The following may help you make your
case by addressing common barriers and benefits to
greater youth involvement and decision-making.
Youth-Adult
Partnerships
Community
Development
- Community
Action
Living
Sculpture projects often develop into public works,
art that benefits the greater community. 4-H’s
Youth Community Action (YCA) captures the essence
of YCA, youth and adults learning, sharing leadership,
taking action, and making a difference in their communities
in this helpful diagram.
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