Below is a slideshow of artwork created during a four-day residency in 2015 at Patchwork Central in Evansville, Indiana. Patchwork is the nonprofit organization where I normally serve as Co-Executive Director. Participants were mostly youth in grades 6-12 with some adults joining in, too.

Each sculpture became a fleshed out character and its creator wrote its backstory. On the last day of the class, we went around the room and everyone shared the story behind their character. It became a wonderful storytelling circle in which everyone was encouraged and celebrated.

“Aqua” by Shammah. She is very peaceful and loves animals and nature. Her favorite color is blue. She is a mermaid princess.

“Queen Fleek” by Jazmin. She is planning a secret attack on Queen Fifi. She lost all of her limbs in a war. She only wears purple. Sometimes she adds in different colors.

“The Ninja” by JJ. He is silent and fast. No one knows his/her past. Though The Ninja has been known to save the day. The Ninja wants to be known, but he is shy, so he is known by being a ninja.

“Officer Boo” by Owen. Hi, I’m Officer Boo. I’m a scary officer. I scare off thiefs. It’s kind of bad in some ways because they get away. It’s good in other ways because they drop what they got that they were stealing. Another thing is I like donuts. Every officer likes donuts. I get thiefs. Some officers get people speeding. Others keep people safe. I like being a police officer.

“Dr. Do You Love Me (Dr. DYLM)” by Daniel. Dr. DYLM reminds me of a disturbing doctor on a motorcycle. He also reminds me of a tall human because of his long legs. He wants to be loved.

“Strawberry Shortcake vs. Lemon Blossom” by Ashlynn. Strawberry Shortcake had a fight with Lemon Blossom because Lemon Blossom snatched Strawberry Shortcake’s favorite lip gloss. Strawberry Shortcake went to an evil witch’s kingdom and begged for revenge. She offered the worst spell of all. When the witch cast the spell she purposely merged both Lemon Blossom and Strawberry Shortcake’s bodies together because she hates their sweet village. Then Strawberry Shortcake and Lemon Blossom turned into Strawberry Lemon Blossom. From now on they will never fight again.

“The Prince Princess (A.K.A. The Money Pope)” by Renee. The Prince Princess (Formerly the Money Pope) got fired from the Pope job when he started spitting everywhere. Then, in a horrible accident, a penguin stabbed his eyes out. He also has a heart made of amber.

“Queen Felisha” by Jerriah. Queen FiFi grew up in a different neighborhood. She represents that beauty is not hair, clothes, or faces. She is nice to all people.

“One Handed Bob” by Eli. Bob was born with one hand. Bob is crazily insane. He likes carrots and pie. Bob had an adventure at the grocery. There were no apples and he was sad. He works at an apple factory. He works all day. He lives a normal live. He only wears pajamas.

“The Paint Brush Man” by John. One day some sun shine and rain were half and half and a rainbow came, and the Paint Brush Man was painting the rainbow and painting different crafts. He loves to paint. He paints all different crafts. The people heard about the Paint Brush Man, so the people wanted to see him, but it was too far away. So the people draw to see what he looks like. The Paint Brush Man goes to sleep when the sun and the rain are not half and half.

by Jane

“Gucci” by Becki. Gucci loves her bling bling. She loves to shop and travel. She wants to be an actress someday and live in California.