Students are working together with pupils from the Montessori School in Kleve and the artist Nicole Peters to create the ‘Miteinander Seating Sculpture, Kleve Campus’.
Under the guidance of the artist Nicole Peters and Prof. Dr Heike Helen Weinbach, Professor of Education specialising in early childhood didactics, third- and fifth-semester students on the ‘Early Childhood Education’ Bachelor’s programme, together with pupils from the Montessori School in Kleve, created a seating sculpture for the Kleve campus. As part of the project, all those involved worked together to go through the entire artistic process, from the initial idea through to model-making and the realisation of the object as a large-scale sculpture.
At the start of the semester, the participants created various miniature clay models of the seating sculpture, into which they were able to incorporate all their creative ideas and imagination. Following a vote, the winning design was selected from the numerous models and ultimately served as the template for the new artwork.
To create the seating sculpture, the young artists first modelled a life-size version out of polystyrene at the planned location next to Building 5 on the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences campus in Kleve, before it was cast in glass-fibre-reinforced concrete. Once the concrete sculpture had set, the students and children worked together to apply a colourful tile mosaic, which makes the seating sculpture stand out. The ‘Miteinander Seating Sculpture, Kleve Campus’ takes the form of an open book. Thick book pages form a rainbow. The key words are written in English – Hope, Freedom, Love, Education, Diversity, Respect. On the right-hand page, a sun shines as a symbol of peace. A crocodile is just emerging from this book and encounters a fox and a hare on the lawn.
In keeping with the participatory approach, pupils and children were involved in all phases of the project and made democratic decisions regarding the design of the seating sculpture. The project focused on the triad of creating an artistic work, the design process and the joy of the shared experience. In the process, pupils and children learnt to engage in artistic and creative activities, to bring their ideas to life through craftsmanship, and to work collaboratively within a group. At the same time, the participating students and children gained new tactile experiences, developed their gross and fine motor skills through the craft process, and honed their spatial awareness whilst transferring the design sketches onto the concrete sculpture. Working together in a group comprising a wide variety of personalities, each with their own individual strengths, perceptions and backgrounds, fostered teamwork as well as communication and social skills. Furthermore, the students were able to gain valuable career-relevant experience and develop their project management skills. “I see positive effects of this collaboration on the joint project for both the students and the children. The students not only learnt how best to guide the children on the building site, but also what is important when working as a team – as students and children should interact on an equal footing rather than adults looking down on the children. After all, the students were also able to learn from the children. For example, I asked a child for advice on laying tiles, or had a child with more experience in that area help me when I was mixing mortar for the first time. Through such interactions, the children realised that they, too, are important and needed, and hopefully they will remember this as a positive experience,” explains student Elena Heinzer.
The project received financial support from the Friends of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences – Cleve Campus e.V., the Friends of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences e.V., GMG Holding GmbH + Co. Gocher-Mineral-Gewinnungsgesellschaft KG and Heicks & Teutenberg GmbH.
Nicole Peters is a qualified art teacher and is particularly well known for her artistic projects in public spaces, at nursery schools and in schools. Her most recent projects include ‘Gorilla Willi’ at the Willibrordschule in Kleve-Kellen, which she created together with children from the after-school care programme.
