Timeline ON CAMPUS
Living Art Inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall and her scientific work, art teacher Terri Frock designed and built three chimpanzee topiaries that were installed on campus in September. “My motivation was to find something that had the possibility of activating the community to participate and have a positive impact on the environment,” said the sculptor, who is devoted to tending to her own chunk of green space in Philadelphia. When, at the end of last school year, Arts Department Chair Bill Esher asked the visual arts faculty to add a component to the curriculum that would get students excited about Dr. Goodall’s Sept. 15 visit, “topiary sculptures … seemed like an opportunity to create an installation that could become a pollinator wonderland,” Frock said. — Amanda Mahnke
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AGNES IRWIN MAGAZINE
FALL 2015
JUNE
MARCH Visual arts staff were asked to brainstorm student projects inspiring “Hope for Humankind,” Agnes Irwin’s theme for the next school year. Frock initially considered creating a sculpture from recycled materials, but decided that topiaries — which could serve as the centerpiece in a pollinator-friendly garden — better fit with her interpretation of Dr. Goodall’s message of “Sowing the Seeds of Hope.”
APRIL After spring break, Middle School students from Kathy Halton, Keri Farrow and Frock’s classes examined the work of sculptor Antony Gormley. His project Field was a collaborative experiment that focused on creating art from the earth, through clay. Students sculpted, then painted, chimpanzees; they also discussed the fact that everyone is responsible for the health of the earth and the environment. The chimpanzee sculptures were later included in the topiary display.
Frock conducted a good deal of research regarding the anatomy of chimpanzees, drawing from trips to the zoo, the library, the Academy of Natural Sciences and Internet research. She also relied heavily on the faculty’s summer reading assignment, Goodall’s autobiography In the Shadow of Man — which had great photo references. “I was most touched by how she described the chimps,” Frock said, citing a passage where Goodall describes how the chimps would sit in the rain, hunched over.
