At Farmington High School, all students are required to take either a half-year Aspire class or a full-year Capstone course during their junior or senior year. One of the classes on offer to fulfill this requirement is the Aspire class: Art Installation. In this half-year course, students work together to build a large temporary sculpture for display in a public space. Students in this course collect and re-purpose materials to create an Installation sculpture. Installation art is a type of art where three-dimensional art is created and utilized to transform a space.  Students in the Installation Art Aspire engage in an interdisciplinary study of art to investigate, design, and create an eco-friendly installation to educate the community on the awareness of waste.

   Every year the class creates a new project. This year, students are making an oceanic installation. It will be full of corals, sea creatures, and bioluminescence and will be installed at the Farmington Public Library. The oceanic theme was inspired by the recent Maui wildfires–this project aims to pay tribute to their oceans while bringing awareness to the recent tragedy.

   Senior Kristina Nenortas is currently enrolled in the class and was able to shed some light on their current project and talk about what goes into a class like this. 

   “My favorite part is that the project is being installed in the Farmington Public Library. It’s right by the high school so the students may visit and so can anyone from our community. You’ll be absorbed into the alive environment as you walk up the staircase.”

  The process of creating art is not as simple as some might think and often involves learning to overcome obstacles to achieve an end goal.

   “We had a few bumps in the road when it came to what we were making in our individual pieces but overall I think we did a great job putting our ideas together to create something unique,” added Nenortas.

   The class really allows students to develop their skills as artists, challenging students to learn new skills and venture into a different art form. 

   Nenortas elaborated, “I’m used to working with fine arts, drawing and painting. This project has allowed me to explore my skills in crafting 3d structures. Using a combination of recycled materials to create alive and colorful looking jellyfish.”

   The Aspire Art Installation’s oceanic installation will be on display at the Farmington Public Library in January.