Kids As Curators - 2005

Students at Diehl Elementary chose to create an installation of a teen bedroom. Their installation demonstrated a room that morphed from frighteningly messy to perfectionist neat and was punctuated with a collection of words from their urban lexicon (“phat”, “bomb”, “chill”, etc.) 

Erie Day School students created a piece called “The Best of 12 Worlds.” They wanted to express their comfort level, as individuals and as a group, with a wide range of artistic taste (symbolized by their music collection) and in a wide range of activities and pastimes (symbolized by their clothing).

Iroquois Elementary students amassed a huge collection of objects that rocked, rolled, or were related to rock 'n' roll, and they juxtaposed these objects in interesting ways.

Union City students, using the theme "What's in your backpack, your purse, your pocket?" created a shadow box of puzzle and game pieces, a collection of their faces scanned onto transparency film, and Louise Nevelson-inspired junk drawer sculptures among other things.

I first thought it was stupid, but after we started I really liked it.

It was awesome, because it is not everyday that you get to see your stuff in a museum.

My first impression of it was “WOW!”