Go Green

For our environmental work of art, we decided to make some letters out of recycled cardboard that would spell out the word "GO GREEN." We used leaves from the ground in order to give the brown cardboard its green color. We decided to place this word along the front of one of the trash dumpsters located near the apartments. We are hoping that people will think twice before throwing away their trash to make sure they don't have any recyclable items.

By: Geo and Danny

Our project focused on the sacrifices made by people in an effort to create a better world.

Schrodinger's Shelter

For our project we decided to build a shelter to house homeless cats. This shelter can easily be made using a box and some type of insulation material- we used pillow stuffing. We included moss on top of the box to conceal it and make it look more natural, but we also put some in the shelter so the cat has a comfy bed to sleep on. We hope that this box will ease some weary wandering cat from the hardships of the outdoors.

-Dillon Schuh

-Jeslyn Schuh

An Environmental Christmas

For our project we wanted to decorate a tree in the spirit of Christmas. We got the inspiration from the Christmas decorations that were going up around campus and thought that we could decorate in an environmentally friendly way. These can decorations were attained from St. Edward's students which aides to the project because it promotes school spirit. The cans were all recycled into forms of art, we wanted to show the student body different examples of beauty.

Pamela and Cindy

The Beauty of Recycling

For our public art piece, we chose to illustrate the benefits to society and sustainability that comes with recycling. We used Coke and Mountain Dew cans to create roses (in the best way that we could) to comment on how recycling even the simplest of items can benefit society by ensuring the our resources are used to their fullest potential. The inside of the stem is a light stake, which helped us to be able to stick the flowers firmly in the ground. We cut up the cans in different shapes to create the stems and petals and used a hot glue gun to keep the roses together. 
This piece doesn’t just discuss the recycling of aluminum cans. We intend it to help start a discussion of the beneficial results of recycling all types of materials, whether they be aluminum, plastic, glass, metal, or even electronics. By recycling, society can create a more wholesome and sustainable environment in which every resource is used to its maximum potential. We hope that this project will help people to see the ease and benefits of recycling and motivate them to being recycling in any way that they can. The flowers are located in front of Ragsdale, by the Book Store.

Bobby Garcia

Danny Cuellar

Awareness Snapshot

Melanie Morris and Felipe Barroso

Our project was intended to enlighten fellow students at St. Edward's to be conscious of their actions, and to take responsibility in protecting our resources. We edited 5 photographs which contained alarming images which may directly stem from actions we overlook everyday. Each photo contained a different quote inspiring action and responsibilty to our planet, and was placed in the exact loactions these actions take place. 

"...most of the damage we cause to the planet is the result of our own ignorance." 

- Yvon Chouinard

"Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good; try to use ordinary situations." 

- Jean Paul Richter

"If we do not change our direction we are likely to end up where we are headed." 

- Chinese Proverb

"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things... I am tempted to think... there are no little things." 

-Bruce Barton 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it is the only thing that ever had."

-Margaret Mead

Keep it Trashy, America!

Our project is based on the idea that if every person on earth consumed the resources an average American does, we would need 4.1 earths to sustain the world's population. We felt the need to work with materials that would help convey our message, so we worked with a trash can and trash bags. We colored the continents and oceans onto four bags (using markers made from recycled plastic) and placed the bags onto the trash can. The inability of all the bags to fit in the can is a metaphor for the unsustainability of consuming at the rate Americans do.

by Dylan Baggett and Richard Glass

A Natural Curtain

As the human population grows, the natural environment around us begins to suffer. With society developing, land and resources are taken away from the animals that live in the forests. That being said, we created a natural curtain that stands between the road and the beginning of the forest near St. Edward's University. This curtain represents the forest protecting itself and the creatures that live within from humans and their destruction. Since the piece is large, it is a physical barrier that cannot be ignored. In order to convey this message, we felt the need to use a natural material, leaves, to represent the forest protecting itself. We gathered various types of leaves from around the area and looped them through clear string that we hung between two parallel trees. 

By: Annie Fuentes and Alexander Sumners

Recycling Seasons of Nature

This piece was inspired by the inevitable cycles in nature and the waste they can represent. We utilized fallen leaves in this project in order to signify renewal and more importantly reuse. The conjoined arrows are our interpretation of the recycle symbol in that it is a never ending process. The leaves' colors cascade naturally as if to represent the changing of the seasons. It is located outside of Huddle Hall on campus.

By: Ryan Harris and Shannon Carter

Cow on the Cob

For our environmental piece of art, we wanted to address the issue of corn.  Since corn has become a mono-crop which a crop that is grown repeatedly on the same piece of land for maximum yield, soil has become depleted because crops are not rotating on the land.  The lack of nutrients in the soil has led to the greater use of fertilizers and pesticides.  There are negative environmental consequences for fertilizer runoff into bodies of water and both fertilizers and pesticides can harm surrounding animal life.   We decided to make a cow out of corn since the increase in corn production has led to the use of corn as a primary feed for livestock even though it causes health problems for the livestock.  We used paper bags we had from HEB as the material to draw the outline of the cow.  Then we used honey to stick the corn together inside our outline.  We chose to put our cow outside of the BMH casitas in order for the squirrels, birds, and other wildlife to have something to eat.  Hopefully as people walk past our corn cow, they might stop to think about corn in general, and maybe even see the environmental connection in our art.

                                                                              

 

- Alexa Ferguson and Victoria Turrentine

Batron Springs Pool Lights

Barton Springs Pool is nicknamed "The Soul of Austin". Unfortunately, thinking of landmarks synonymous with other cities conjures up colorful imagery, while Barton Springs is relatively bland. While the pool is perhaps the most interactive of many landmarks from many cities, it still misses a bit of flash. For example, the designs along the road approaching LAX are synonymous with Los Angeles. The designs consist of many glass columns filled with lights, which cycle through color combinations. In New York, the famous Empire State Building is lit up at night to correlate with festivities in the city. For example, the building will be red, white, and blue on Independence Day; all green on St. Patrick's Day; and will sport the colors of any local team in a playoff run. With the much needed renovations of Barton Springs going on right now, why not entertain the thought of adding underwater lights to the pool? The lights would increase the pools popularity, promote local festivals, make the pool safer to swim in at night, and would solidify the pool's place in Austin's culture.

by Richard Glass

Ryan's Bat Plan

I wanted to keep an austin theme so I chose the Congress Bridge for my Art proposal. To enhance the Austin experience for locals and visitors I'd like to paint bats alongside the congress bridge. A non-toxic paint would have to be used. The idea here is for a fun and iconic image for this beautiful spectacle.

I found this photo of the congress bridge on herronstock.com

The idea I would like to propose is to take a pinwheel, and make it giant. With big decorated and colorful wings, or patterns like origami paper. I want them to be a fun, playful and bright image against the back drop of Austin. I want them to contrast the normal colors of a city, so be visually odd in there environment from afar, like in a postcard of the city view. I want them to be odd and unexpected when people see them from afar but recognizable, because pinwheels are fun objects no matter when you see one. But where they are actually located is in some park (I'm initially thinking Zilker park but am visiting more areas today.) and parks are fun places too, and it could be the focal point of a children s play area or a picnic area. I want them to be enormous. At least to a point where they can be made functional. And you could either operate something local there or feed the energy into the grid, anything that really does something good.

Everlasting Souls

MY public art proposal is to have a large mural placed in the new library depicting the three St. Ed's professors who passed away earlier this year- Doctors Becker, McKemie, and Shirley. My plan is to have the project be a joint effort between students of the art school, who will paint it, and students of the respective schools in which each teacher worked. The art students will take the input of the teachers' former students and use them to show some of the characteristics and habits the teachers were known to have. An example of this is Dr. Shirley's oval glasses that most people remember him to have worn. The point of this work is to allow people to pay respect and remember these teachers, whether they knew them or not. I think it is important that their legacy lives on within our school and this would be a great way to aid in doing so.

The Auditorium Shores Wave

Melanie Morris

Lines are shown to represent the flow of water. 

I was inspired by two different things for my project: the skateboard park wave and the auditorium shores dog park. I wanted to create something to keep the dogs safe in the summer heat. I plan to create this structure out of copper and coat it so that it is safe for drinking water. The water will be collected from the river and go through a filter underground as well as a cooling system. This water will run up the inside of the piece and run out the top of the structure. This water will run down the front of the piece, collecting at the bottom where there will be a dog "dish". This water will be constantly running and recycled/filtered/cooled each time through. The pumps will collect more water from the lake as needed. The opposite side of the piece will also add some coverage for the dogs to get out of the hot sun. 

Coexisting Creatures

 

 For my public art proposal, I want to make sculptures out of willow branches that have been weaved together to create animal figures.  These willow sculptures will be placed in groupings along the trails of Boggy Creek greenbelt in East Austin.  Since animal exploitation is a universal problem that is often ignored, I chose to make animal sculptures, so when people take a moment to look at these figures, they will also think about animals.  The decision to use a natural material came from desire to preserve the beautiful natural scenery of the location.   I decided on 6 different animals that will be placed together in pairs along the trail.  The animals are an otter and a fox, a chicken and a deer, and a cat and a goat.  The odd groupings such as the otter and the fox are supposed to both remind people how we can all coexist together and to also catch the attention of people walking along the path.   Hopefully when people are enjoying the scenic area of the greenbelt, they will appreciate the sculptures as well as real animals.
- Alexa Ferguson

http://twistedhedge.blogspot.com/2011/12/latest-willow-sculptures.html

Aeolian Harps

Aeolian Harps are an instrument played by the wind. They are named after Aeolus, the greek god of the wind. Aeolian harps create a beautiful, some what haunting, ambient sound as the strings resonate with one another. I learned about Aeolian harps after taking an American Literature class. Aeolian Harps became a central point of discussion amongst authors in the 19th century after Henry David Thorea, in Walden, compares a thunderstorm to an Aeolian Harp. Herman Melville later wrote a poem "Aeolian Harp" which rejects Thoreau's Romanticist view on storms, and instead creates a scene of a ship wrecked to havoc by a storm. Whichever view you take, I would like to place some of these harps around St.Edward's campus in order to add to the beauty of the scenery.

-Dillon Schuh