YOUNG ARTIST CELEBRATES LIFE THROUGH SCULPTURE

WESLEY CLAPP, with his sculpture "PRO VITA," in the Middlebrook School courtyard — Photos & Story by BEN SANDERS for THE WILTON BULLETIN

It was a race against the clock, but Middlebrook School eighth grader WESLEY CLAPP got his contribution to the Visionary Student Artist program up before school closed. "We got it up a few days before the last day of school," he said.

WESLEY’s sculpture series, "PRO VITA," now stands in the courtyard at the middle school, facing the main entrance to the school. The name is Latin, and means "for life." — "It best represents what I was trying to communicate through the piece," said WESLEY, "which was the celebration of life."

The sculpture itself is made up of a series of triangular pillars, each about eight to nine feet-tall, placed at angles to each other. Some ‘facets’ are painted with color-plane designs, while others contrast in simple matte black.

FLASH OF COLOR IN FOYER

The sculpture provides a flash of color visible from the entrance to the school's parking lot through the glass foyer. The sides visible from the entrance to the school are a swirl of blues, yellows, and reds. WESLEY's art teacher, SHARMAN WHEATLEY, suggested that this might have been inspired by his being a competitive swimmer.

The whole project took over 600 hours, said WESLEY. He did the construction of the column pillars at home, as well as coating them with polyurethane and applying primer. "I started the design and planning at the beginning of the school year," he said. The pillars were than transported to Middlebrook, where WESLEY directed students in the advanced art program, Art a la Carte, in the final application of color to the pillars. Mrs. Wheatley oversees both Art a la Carte, and the Visionary Student Artist program. The visionary artist program began with building committee Chairman MALCOLM WHYTE, who wanted students to have a chance to contribute permanent art works.

ADVICE FROM ARCHITECT

WHYTE, a retired architect, even offered some helpful advice to WESLEY on his project. He suggested putting vents around the bottom of the structures, releasing heat and preventing them from warping. To prevent them from blowing over in the wind, he also suggested adding sand bags inside each pillar.

WESLEY found the project valuable, and hopes to continue in art classes at the high school next year. "It taught me a lesson," he said, about his views of the project and its levels of completion. He made many changes in the design over the course of the project, the biggest one being the decision to move the entire project outdoors. That required switching to pressure-treated wood, and changing the type of paint and finishing materials.

*SOURCE: THE WILTON BULLETIN, Print Edition, June 2001