By Talia AlbertsThe Daily Northwestern
Though it is only the beginning of November, snow plows already are gracing the streets of Evanston.
Typically, the city contracts plows out to be painted because the paint helps the snow come off more easily. This year, in order to save money and promote art in local schools, the city turned them over to the students.
As a part of the first Painting Evanston’s Plows contest, four Evanston/Skokie District 65 schools participated in designing and painting a blade for a snow plow. Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet, Dewey Elementary, Nichols Middle and Chute Middle schools joined the contest put on by the city’s streets and sanitation division.
Each school was presented with the blade, a paint kit and the theme “More Recycling.” The schools were encouraged to depict school, city, holiday or seasonal spirit in their artwork, said Jill Mickey, art teacher at Dewey Elementary.
Mickey said she was excited when Dewey Elementary was contacted by the city. She said the school has done many different arts projects in conjunction with the city, including painting murals at the library, and that Dewey takes advantage of them “as they come up.”
At Dewey Elementary, fourth- and fifth-graders designed and painted their mural. Mickey said that a fifth-grade girl came up with their design of a large snowflake with the words “Recycle Evanston” painted over it.
“It’s always great (for students) to see that art can be a part of the world – whether it’s in galleries or right on the street,” Mickey said.
Though the snow plow project is technically part of a contest, Mickey said what it really teaches students is teamwork.
Lisa Arreguin, the art and technology teacher for Rhodes Magnet Middle School, also said having large groups of students work together fostered team-building. For Rhodes, the project not only reinforced the importance of recycling, but also allowed Arreguin to incorporate some art history into her lesson plan.
“In our case we painted (a copy of) ‘Starry Night’ and were able to learn about the artist (Van Gogh) and the famous painting ,” Arreguin said.
The other two snow plows featured different motivational images – a smiling snowman holding a Pepsi can advertising recycling and an eagle soaring to recycle cans.
The snow plow blades can be viewed at cityofevanston.org and voted on either through the Web site or by calling 847-866-2940.
The colorful blades are on display in front of the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave, until Monday.
Reach Talia Alberts at [email protected].
