SCULPTING “OSCAR JOSEPH” AND MAKING ART WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Artist James Marks is a sculptor and teacher and a brand new addition to ArtBreak 37. For more than 40 years, Marks has been twisting and bending wire to make images, usually in the form of human figures. He has been teaching the art of wire sculpture for 20 years throughout the community and at the Renzi Education and Arts Center, where all children have an opportunity to explore, learn and create. His students have ranged from the children of migrant workers to Spanish football players to nonverbal students with learning differences. Throughout the week of 2023 ArtBreak, James will be working with 2nd grade students to sculpt a lifesize wire man named Oscar Joseph.

“I am excited to teach the uncommon medium of wire sculpture at this year’s ArtBreak 37. Wire sculpting is my avocation. It’s what catches my heart on fire. I will instruct students on how to make their own wire figures to take

home with them and will also invite them to work with me using chenille pipe cleaners, and aluminum and white steel wire to build a life-sized wire man. The figure, named Oscar Joseph Williams after my grandfather who was a fundamental influence in my career as a teacher and an artist, will hang in the lobby of ArtStation and be on display at future festivals when completed. I hope those who join me to work on the project will see the finished Oscar and feel a sense of ownership and pride in what they helped to create.” says Marks.

Oscar is only one of several all new community partnerships being offered to students and families during ArtBreak 37. The American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Louisiana Engineering Society (LES) are partnering with SRAC during the ArtBreak Family Festival weekend to teach kids how to use their engineering skills to build a gumdrop geodesic dome and a hoop airplane. Noel Community Art Center is doing watercolor on bookmarks (perfect for the Shreve Memorial Library Friends Book Walk). The Red River Revel Arts Festival is bringing their popular sand art to ArtBreak. The Renzi Center will have children design paper flowers that will be attached to a large canvas and then displayed at the Renzi Center during their Give 4 Good event in partnership with Shreveport Green. Robinson Film Center will provide a green screen so kids can see themselves performing heroic deeds on screen. Sanctuary Glass Studio is spearheading a tile mosaic project to become part of a prominent wall in the city. And SciPort Discovery Center is inviting kids to color the three-light conversion they want to see light up the Texas Street Bridge.

It takes a village—really an entire community--to showcase the positive impact of Arts Education at ArtBreak 37 through the promotion of the Arts Curriculum, programs, and professional artists across Northwest Louisiana. These community partnerships are our way of keeping the momentum strong and the love of the arts thriving.