By: Meredith Bower, Director of Communications at McDonogh School
As a group of students strolled across the terrace between McDonogh’s Campus Green and the Student Center, they paused to admire a vibrant patch of cheerful flowers moving in the breeze. But they weren’t looking at typical springtime tulips or daffodils—the flowers were part of a striking wooden kinetic sculpture, more than five feet tall, designed by Upper School students and brought to life by eighth graders.
This eye-catching piece is one of six in Keep it Moving, a dynamic outdoor exhibit of kinetic sculptures made entirely from sustainable materials. “The sculptures come to life through natural forces like the wind, which makes movement an essential part of the artistic experience,” says Dave Radford, Director of the School’s Tuttle Art Gallery and curator of the exhibit. “Each piece celebrates the intersection of art and environmental stewardship.”
Keep it Moving debuted on April 22—Earth Day—and represents a meaningful collaboration between upper school Sculpture I and II classes, which designed and prototyped the pieces, and eighth grade Innovation and Design students, who fabricated and finished the final pieces. The middle schoolers used the upper school sketches and specifications as blueprints, scaling each sculpture in the workshop and iterating through several versions to bring the concepts to life.
“They gave us sketches and a list of criteria,” Innovation and Design teacher Gregg Kleiman explains. “We took their notes, drew each sculpture to scale in our workshop, and got to work. It took us about six or seven class periods—and sometimes several iterations—but that’s where the learning happened.” He adds that he encourages students to embrace mistakes as opportunities, calling the process “failing forward.”
To complement the exhibit’s Earth Day debut, the McDonogh Goes Green Club designed visually engaging posters filled with practical, inspiring tips for living a more eco-conscious life.
Radford says he’s thrilled with the project’s outcome and believes it sparked curiosity among the younger students about the possibilities within the arts in Upper School. He and Kleiman both see a natural synergy between McDonogh’s expanding engineering and arts programs and look forward to future opportunities to collaborate.
What’s next for Keep it Moving? Radford says the sculptures will have a permanent home at McDonogh’s Roots Farm, where they will double as functional art—serving as eco-friendly scarecrows to protect crops. The spirit of collaboration lives on!
