CCS art project near auxiliary gym a grade K-12 group effort

    A new piece of art at Chase County Schools proves all ages can work together to make something beautiful.
    Chelsea Zuege, 9-12 art teacher, said she and the school’s other two art instructors wanted to do a collaborative project with all grade levels working together.
    The result is a 24 x 3-foot “See the Light” themed piece in the auxiliary gym hall area, which was hung the final days of school last week.
    The project also involved recycling, as the piece is created entirely from plastic lids and bottle caps normally thrown away.
    “We have been collecting lids and caps all school year from the community and even family and friends,” Zuege said.
    All students in K-12 were involved. A lot of time was spent organizing the lids by color and size, Zuege noted.
    Her high school design class came up with the design, which includes a large yellow sun and colorful tree.
    It was first sketched on individual wood panels, so the work of arranging the lids and caps could take place in each of the three art classrooms, when students from different grades were able to work together, she said.
    “It uses something we often throw away (the bottle caps), something considered not beautiful, to make something beautiful,” she said.
    Zuege said she received the idea for the project from Heather (Brandt) Ladman, a 1999 CCHS graduate and current art teacher living in Malcolm.
    The two other CCS art teachers involved in the project were Erin Mehlin, grades K-6, and Kaylee Gill, grades 7-8.
    The custodial staff hung the piece, and it was funded, in part, with donations from the Imperial Community Foundation Fund and from individuals in the community.
    Zuege said other collaborative art projects at CCS, also realized with help in funding from ICFF and other donations, include the Longhorn gym wall painting, the Longhorn head design in the cafeteria and a tile design at the football field concession stand.