Front Page News
June 13, 2012
Pittsfield Elementary School Artist In Residence
Submitted By Lisa Stevens, Art Teacher Pittsfield Elementary School
This May PES hosted artist Emile Birch for a ten-day residency. He
is a professional sculptor whose public artworks have been
commissioned by many businesses and communities throughout New
Hampshire.
Recent sculptures include The Eternal Shield, commissioned by the
New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Committee. This is
the first sculpture in over 100 years to be sited on the State House
grounds in Concord. Birch also produced a bronze sculpture of
Pollyanna for the community of Littleton. Birch is a master
community artist skilled in engaging people of all ages and
abilities in a wide variety of projects.
The residency was for the Pittsfield Elementary third graders.
Students were to design, fabricate, cast, and finish the three
concrete sculpture benches. The third graders loved cutting wood
with a jigsaw and hammering nails. They also were excited about the
cement truck and seeing the forms being filled with cement. The
final step was to pull the wooden forms off, clean up the benches
and stain them.
On June 1, a beautiful sunny day, the school community gathered at
an assembly outside to unveil the third-grade sculptural benches.
Parents of third grade students, along with community members
attended, as well. The kids at recess have already begun to enjoy
sitting out at the benches with their friends.
Our whole school community would like to thank the following
organizations and individuals for their contributions to the
project: First and foremost, we thank the Sanderson Trust of
Pittsfield for bringing Mr. Birch to PES for the residency.
Several donations were given. Barton’s Lumber donated lumber and
nails so the forms could be built. The Pittsfield Rotary Club
donated the use of a large tent to protect the cement benches from
rain delays. Volunteers that erected the tent were Mike Wolfe, Amy
Ramsey, Jon Ward, Stephen Catalano, Al Douglas, Stan Bailey, Jeremy
Yeaton, Jim Darrah, and others. Michie Cooperation of Henniker NH
donated 3-4 yards of mixed concrete. Home Depot of Concord donated 4
cans of concrete stain. Lowes of Concord donated styrofoam, which
lined the wooden forms and the animals were made from to make the
impressions on the sides of the benches.
Lisa English and her son Isack English, along with Jimmy Darrah
donated, their time to dig the 3 holes and lay down sand where the
benches would be placed on. The Town of Pittsfield donated 2 yards
of sand. The PTO will fund the cost of the concrete pencil vibrator.
We had approximately $1000.00 donated to PES.
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