Every two years, Cornwall High School students in Hara Fiato’s art class build a new stone wall sculpture which welcomes anyone who enters the property. The work is inspired by Andrew Goldsworthy’s Stone Wall at Storm King Art Center.
To begin, students visit the site, located at the entrance of the visitor and student parking lot. They complete some preliminary sketches and get a feel for the landscape and its dimensions. They get a sense of what it’s physically like to lift a rock and try to fit others together in a stack, just like a stone mason.
The students go back to the classroom to complete two renderings of their sculpture idea, an aerial and a landscape view. The class votes on which idea they think they’ll have more success in executing.
Fiato said not all projects work out the way they were originally envisioned. She said the student artists learn how to problem solve and make alterations to their design.
Using the stones, which were originally part of the stone wall that ran behind the track, the students execute the design using no mortar or mud. The process is called “dry stonewalling. “
In the past, students have created a dragon and a piece that resembled Stonehenge. The current design has a more modern look.
From start to finish, the entire process takes about one and a half to two months, depending on cooperation from Mother Nature.
Through the experience, students make the connection between the creative ideas they develop in the classroom and the natural environment where they can see their art come to life.
