Media Contact: Lindsey Goudreau, Marketing Communications Specialist (207) 443-8330 | lgoudreau@cityofbath.com
Bath, ME (December 17, 2021) - In a unique collaboration between Fisher-Mitchell Elementary School’s library and art class, students learned about the intersection of creativity, community, and cans!
In the spirit of the holiday season, each classroom was challenged to collect as many cans of food as they could to support the Bath Area Food Bank. The food drive, organized by Librarian Meg Barker, turned out to be the perfect chance to introduce students to an artist known for his iconic depiction of cans, particularly Campbell’s Soup: Andy Warhol.
“Warhol used the image of the soup can to bridge industrial design and fine art,” explained Art Teacher George McGinty. Warhol took a familiar piece of consumer culture and repeated the image to mimic print advertising, although each image was individually hand-painted. To introduce his students to Warhol’s process, McGinty taught them about drawing in three dimensions and how to draw a cylinder.
“We made our cylinders into cans, and then students drew the label based on the cans they were donating to the food drive,” McGinty said. “Then they had to take their own photo of their art, put it into Google sides, copy it, and make different color variations.”
McGinty noted his enjoyment of some visual puns as the students worked – for instance, a picture of Ramen Noodles by a student named Roman.
Students wound up collecting an incredible 467 cans for the food bank. Fifth graders helped Barker deliver the cans on December 6, which will be available to local families in need.
“The canned food drive was to give students a chance to DO something to help our community. Something where we could see the impact of our efforts as the towers of cans grew in the cafeteria,” said Barker. “Their success shows how much students care and their potential to do even more in the future.”
“Our students showed their creativity and community spirit this month,” said Principal Ross Berkowitz. “We’re very proud of them for participating in this season of giving.”