Canyon Elementary students create fused glass art with visiting artist Carrie Trenholm
A Canyon Elementary student points out her contribution to the project headed by visiting artist, Carrie Trenholm (shown).
As part of a legacy art project, sixth graders at Canyon Elementary recently had the opportunity to learn from a visiting artist, Carrie Trenholm of Trenholm Glass. The resulting artwork--brightly colored glass pieces--was showcased at the annual Canyon Art Show on December 1st. Trenholm, who has exhibited her work at various fine art galleries across the state, described how delightful it was to work with the students. “They were careful, excited, kind to one another, helpful and supportive,” she shared.
Canyon's sixth-grade students have been studying ancient cultures as part of their social studies curriculum, so Trenholm used images and symbols from Africa (Adinkra) as inspiration for the project. The glass squares each included a symbol that represents something about the student-artist. When asked about her glass piece, Lily, a participating student, said, “Mine means, ‘lovingly.’ That’s why it’s an arrow-- because I think of strong women that are loving.”
When asked about the project, students expressed how much they enjoyed working together and seeing the transformation after the glass came out of the kiln. “I liked the finished product,” said Lincoln, another student who participated in the project. “It looked really different than what it was, and it was really fun.“ The student artwork is on permanent display in Canyon Elementary’s library and may even be displayed on a Cache Valley Transit Bus wrap in the near future.
In addition to her time at Canyon Elementary, Trenholm also taught a teacher workshop on glass fusion at Mountain Crest High School. “Really, the teachers are so great,” Trenholm said of her experience with Cache County schools. “It was just a big collaborative program and I love coming up to Logan.” Trenholm was granted a full-week residency funded primarily by the Utah Department of Art and Museums and partially by the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program.