Beacon Homelessness Project

It's finally done! At our high school art exhibition our paper maché baby elephant represents the "elephant in the room", which is youth homelessness. The key imprints represent security which is hard to find when you are homeless. In the key covered box we put thirty-six beds that symbolize the amount of beds available to the youth who are homeless in the greater Boston area. It signifies how difficult it can be to secure one of those beds.

We also sold our bowls and books that were previously mentioned for donations to Y2Y, which is a youth homeless shelter.
We're proud to say we raised over four hundred dollars!
We found learning about youth homelessness to be a really powerful experience, learning to build installation pieces with different materials, as well as making a difference in our community through art.
Here's the finished project!

We're currently working on an installation that will stay right here at Beacon High School! It involves a 30 pound elephant sculpture. We just completed the frame using plywood, screws, glue, a drill, and a jigsaw.
One of our creative students had the idea that homelessness is like the "elephant in the room" - We often see it but don't acknowledge it, as we're so caught up in our daily routines. We hope that our installation (when completed) will bring awareness to homelessness in the greater Boston area. More updates to come :)

Beacon High School Sculpture Class is participating in Harvard University’s ARTS FIRST festival Thursday, April 28–Sunday, May 1, 2016.
Featuring more than 100 live performing, literary and visual arts.
All events are open to the public, and most are free of charge and accessible.
http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/arts/about-arts-first-festival
Our Work will be featured here:
Y2Y Dreamcatcher Gallery
Saturday 2-7 pm, Sunday 12-5 pm
Lending an artistic voice to the fight to end homelessness, the Y2Y Dreamcatcher Gallery showcases works in wide range of styles, all made by young adults experiencing homelessness as well as dedicated members of the Y2Y community.
Y2Y Harvard Square in First Parish Church, 3 Church St.

About the Festival ARTS FIRST 2016 is right around the corner! Join us for Harvard University’s ARTS FIRST festival Thursday, April 28–Sunday, May 1, 2016, with more than 100 live performing, literary and visual arts. All events are open to the public, and most are free of charge and accessible.

We have finished firing our first batch of bowls. It was much fun and now we are on to the next component of our project: planning the sculpture. We are now focusing our research efforts on homeless youth. We have some ideas for our sculpture. More updates to come later in the week.

We also are in the process of glazing some awesome bowls for our fundraiser. We learned how to glaze the bowls in a fantastically educational class. More info and pictures to come.

We made an elephant! The materials we used were newspaper, tape, and paper maché clay. The paper maché clay was made out of toilet paper. We found a great resource, if you are interested in learning how: http://www.ultimatepapermache.com/paper-mache-clay

Hey! Check out these cool books we are making in sculpture. They have facts about homelessness inside. We're gearing up for spring sales. We will be selling these soon and giving the proceeds to homeless shelters. Stay tuned for more! :)

Today in class we looked at this article:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2016/01/12/brescia/Be4tsSQdHLdrrz9Q5mcNvM/story.html

Frank Brescia is a Boston resident who made a major change in his life and others through his "Skywall" series. Take a look!

Frank Brescia is painting his way home - The Boston Globe Frank Brescia has struggled with homelessness. But now his “Skywall” series of paintings have developed a following, and produced a source of income for the 63-year-old.

Hello! We are a sculpture class at Beacon High School and we are here to make a change through public art. We've been inspired by the Empty Bowls Project to raise awareness and money to help end homelessness and hunger in the greater Boston area. We'll have more information shortly. Check back spoon! :)