Animodule Sculpture Creation at Technology High School is a Barat Youth Initiative "Creation Nation" Program funded by a Newark Arts Council ArtStart Grant. 130 Students worked together over a period of five weeks under the supervision of artist in residence, Ariana Barat and art teacher, Dorie Dahlberg. Together the students studied principles and elements of design, researched digital archives, and put together a unified cohesive plan to create the Animodule sculpture, their school mascot, a panther. The panther animodule was proudly marched down Broad Street as part of the Creation Nation Art and Peace Parade, and returns to Technology High as the school mascot and permanent testimony to the creative powers of its students.
Students utilized internet sites including the Metropolitan Museum Digital Archive and the New York Library Digital Archive as visual references to facilitate the designing process of the animodule. Students learned about the principles and elements of design including the use of color, shape, placement, and repetition as the key ingredients to create a successfully cohesive, thematic piece. Once a cohesive design was agreed upon, the students worked together first drawing and then painting the sculpture.
