ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE:  MARY SCROGGS ELEMENTARY

For the pilot program of Artists@Work in the spring of 2006, textile artist Peg Gignoux partnered with five fourth-grade art classes at Scroggs Elementary in Chapel Hill.  The students and parent docents worked with the artist for two weeks in February to create a 5 x 12 foot collaborative fabric artwork that hangs in the school’s central staircase. 

Through a series of hands-on surface design workshops entitled Playing with Pattern, students learned techniques such as dye chemistry, painting with textile inks, collage applique, beading and embroidery in order to assemble a large-scale contemporary art textile.  During ten forty-minute sessions, Gignoux led the students through the design challenge of creating a cohesive and vibrant work developed through collaboration and consensus. Each workshop built on the success of the previous day’s work, and Gignoux introduced each design lesson with picture books, art history references, and relevant connections to her own work as a visual artist.