Art Lecturer Julian Rodriguez will take his classes’ creativity to another level this week on South Padre Island.
“The idea was to take things out of the classroom, to go to a different setting,” Rodriguez said.
Last spring, Rodriguez took his sculpture classes to the Island for the first time to create sculptures with material they found at the beach.
“We felt that perhaps going to the beach would be a good idea and working with just found material,” he said. “We are not doing anything with sand; it’s not sand castles or anything like that.”
Students will challenge their “creative thinking” to craft an art piece made of materials such as trash or pieces of trees.
“Whatever the students find in the trash, whatever people leave, they go out there with no idea of what they are going to find,” Rodriguez said. “So, they have no idea of what they are going to make until they gather all the materials.”
He said creativity and creative thinking skills transfer to any field.
This week, Rodriguez will meet two of his classes on the Island.
“Altogether, there should be about 20 students on different dates,” he said.
The sculpture class will meet at the Island with Rodriguez at 10:50 a.m. today and Wednesday and the advanced sculpture class will meet at 8 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday.
Students will break out into teams to create their sculpture for a grade and to practice as a unit.
Fine arts junior Juan Perez said this project will challenge students’ abilities.
“It is challenging in the fact that you have to be creative,” Perez said. “It is about the fun, spontaneous act of showing up somewhere and being just as creative as you can be with whatever is available to you.”
He encourages students to challenge their creativity and join a sculpture class.
“It is challenging but exciting at the same time,” Perez said.
For more information about the projects, email Rodriguez at julian.rodriguez@utrgv.edu.
