Parshat Terumah: Gold

I am pretty proud of and psyched about this project.

With this week's parsha, we are entering the world of the Mishkan, the tabernacle.

This topic can be a nightmare - boring details, measurements, and descriptions of an ancient structure and system of worship and sacrifice.

But, it is also a rich field for the visual arts. The mishkan itself is a piece of artwork designed using precious metals and colorful fabrics.

Of course students could be encouraged to re-create some kind of model of the mishkan and/or its holy vessels like the menorah or the ark. But, I was more inclined to do something more abstract and less literal. I decided to just zoom in on "GOLD" and see if I could find a project that would highlight this particular color and material.

In my research, I came across the work of Louise Nevelson and lesson plans based on her sculpture, specifically her "found objects sculpture." Initially, I was attracted to this sculpture simply because it was unified in gold but then I also connected to the idea that it was created from recycled objects. I love this quote of hers:

"When you put things together, things that other people have thrown out, you’re really bringing them to life – a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created."

I realized that the mishkan itself was a large recycling project. The word "terumah" means donation and at the beginning of this week's parsha, the people are commanded to donate things from their homes - metals, fabrics, spices, stones, wood - in order to build the mishkan. Now, this project made even seemed to be even more relevant to this week's parsha.

I chose not to use a variety of objects but rather focused on using pieces of cardboard and bottlecaps - since these were free and readily available. I spent much of the week rummaging through local recycling bins and accumulated large amount of materials to work with.

Since the cardboard was thick and hard to cut, I pre-cut shapes for the students to use in their "assemblage." Cardboard is an amazing material for art projects - especially corrugated (bumpy) cardboard!!! Paper towel and toilet paper rolls are awesome for making bouncy spirals.All the students had to do was come up with a design and glue down the materials. Afterwards, I spray-painted all their projects in gold.

I was so happy with the way this project came out that I really hope to do more projects with both cardboard and bottlecaps. I am considering doing a similar project school-wide, painting each grade's work in a different color to create some kind of permanent sculpture.

OUR FINISHED PRODUCT: