By Henriikka Niemi
Staff Writer

One week in late November, huge elephant sculptures made out of wood, wire, glue, yarn and numerous other materials appeared in the freshman center and  main hall display case.

These sculptures are the work of AP 3D Design and IB visual arts students, who on average spent  a week planning and two weeks constructing in class with numerous hours spent working at home. Tamera Westervelt, one of the four art teachers at Coppell High School, assigned the project after learning she was in charge of decorations for an art teacher conference at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas.

Her AP 3D Design students were required to choose a 3D artist or culture  to work in the manner of and the theme was Indonesian elephants, although there was freedom in choosing which medium to use.

“I mainly facilitate problem solving,” Westervelt said. “When they come up on an area where they don’t know how to attach something, we brainstorm together and think ‘how can we make this work?’ Or if I see they’re building the base part of it, called an armature, and it’s going to be weak, I intervene and make some suggestions on how to strengthen that.”

Last year, the few students who wanted to work in the art of sculpting were assimilated in various ceramics class. Enough students signed up for the new AP 3D Design course this year for it form, and prerequisite classes include Art III Ceramics or Art II Ceramics and Art II Pre-AP. Students create 24 sculptures each year and at times have to supply their own materials for projects.

“I provide them with a shelf that they’re able to use anything off of, but if they come up with a material they don’t have access to, they can bring it in,” Westervelt said.

With years of art under their belt, many seniors in AP 3D Design  are cultivating their art skills to prepare for art majors or future careers. Senior Joanne Hung plans to pursue interaction design after graduation, which combines product and graphic design. To Hung, AP 3D Design was the perfect class to sign up for to gain expertise in product design. Her sculpture was  made out of wire and hot glue was inspired by the Italian artist Gia Cometti’s elongated and exaggerated designs.

Senior Kimberley Schantz created her elephant sculpture out of wood blocks, drawing materials from her father who is in the business of building shutters.

“I knew from when I started doing art that I loved it, and I want to go to college for art,” Schantz said. “It’s always been a big part of me.”

For AP 3D Design students, another notable project this year was the hat project, for which students had no restrictions besides that the final product had to be a hat. For most, the project provided complete artistic freedom and the chance to draw inspiration from whatever they wanted.

With a dozen art classes and only four areas to display students’ work, including a bulletin board by the library, the showcase by Principal Mike Jasso’s office, the big deep showcase in the main hallway and area in the freshman center, art teachers have devised a schedule to rotate displays between classes.

“I teach a lot of different subjects, so I try to display something from each of my classes in rotation,” Westervelt said. “So I have Art 2 Pre-AP, my 3 AP classes, and then the 3D class. A lot of times it’s what will fit in a showcase, like the elephants will only fit in certain displays. I hoard all the space I can get.”

AP 3D Design is perfect for students who want a challenge, a chance to sculpt or a class that will prepare them for a future career.