Lysa Benton, MSAE student and K-4 art teacher at Mullen-Hall Elementary School in Falmouth, decided, due to budget cuts, to be the artist-in-residence in her own school this year.  Her young students often ask her if she is a “real artist.”  She brought in an art piece “SO BIG” and worked on it after school so that each time the students came back to class, they could see the piece developing. 

Lysa generally starts each class with “creative brain aerobics”: students look at an art work and think of something to say or ask about it.  She finds that their statements and questions are becoming increasingly sophisticated.  Lysa asked the students for artistic advice on SO BIG and found that they had “impressive and thoughtful” suggestions.

The piece has been accepted to the peer-curated show of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, which Lysa’s students visit each year.  She is looking forward to their suprise when they see SO BIG, to which they contributed their suggestions, in the show.

About the work:
The BIG IDEA

 Big ideas, big concepts, big risks! BIG means thinking outside of the box; minimizing to maximize; taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary! A big idea is abstract. It requires investigation and questioning.

 This piece required disassembling recycled furniture and reassembling it into something unique and curious. It is abstract in nature and makes the viewer wonder:

•         What is the big idea behind this art?

•         Why or how was it created?

•         What is it made from?

•         What familiar images can be found in the work?

As the artist, I hope the audience will have an inquisitive experience. The big idea behind this work is for participants to visually investigate and attempt to make sense of it in their own unique way.

This work is meant to provoke assumptions, questioning, and personal interpretations. There are no right or wrong answers.