The Artist Collective in collaboration with Professor Corey Escoto hosted a sled making event at the Art and Design Center on Wednesday, February 18. The event was open to both graduate and undergraduate students. Everyone who attended had the opportunity to make sleds that could be used to speed down Chapel Hill.
Without knowing in advance that their event was going to be hosted in between bursts of snowfall, this Sled Making event proved to be a nice break at a time of year when everyone is huddled inside. During the first part of the program, Escoto showed students how to safely work the saws and power drill. Before the event, he created a mini-prototype sled to show what the end result was going to look like.
Students took their time carefully planning out sled designs. Everyone was encouraged to be creative and design a sled that would be personalized. One student chose to make a sled comprised of geometric designs, while another crafted her sled in the image of Chatham’s campus-famous squirrels.
Once designs were invented, students set to work sketching out where to make cuts in the wood that they would then cut using the saws. After the designs were cut, slender beams were set inside to keep the sled together. Then a large plastic piece was secured to the bottom to ensure that the sled would glide smoothly down the hill.
“We want to introduce students to new art forms,” said Meg Scanlon, one of the members of the Artist Collective who helped to organize the event. “We also like to hold events to remind everyone that the Arts and Design Center is on campus.”
When asked what gave the group the idea to host this event, Scanlon commented, “We wanted to host something that would be fun. Corey talked about making sleds, and we all thought it sounded great.”
Along with sled making, the Artist Collective tries to give students the opportunity to go to different museums to see a variety of visual arts. They also focus on participating in community art projects around the city, and earlier this school year, they created a giant paper dragon and a banned books piece that was featured during Banned Book Week. The club is looking forward to their next big event called Extraction on March 26. in the Welker Room. Everyone is welcome to submit artwork for the event.
Despite the fact that several people in attendance had never touched a power tool before, everyone walked away with a sled. Unfortunately because of the cold, no one was quite brave enough to venture out and try out their new creations, so it might be a few days before anyone will be seen with their personalized squirrel and carrot sleds zipping down Chapel Hill.