From left, Taylor Still-Pepper and Danielle Eddy with their big yellow chick.

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., May 2, 2018 — May arrived with a pop-up garden theme on Tuesday as students in the Visual Communication Design program revealed their latest work — an inflatable sculpture garden. 

“The giant sculptures were part of the classwork for my Design II-3D Foundations class. The theme was spring garden and the students, in teams of two, were asked to create artistic inflatable pieces. Since this was the first time I assigned this art project it’s been an interesting experiment,” said James Haizlett, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Communication.

The sculptures do better with minimal wind so choosing a good day for the display depended greatly on weather.

The students work included a variety of big balloon-like objects including a chick, a giant carrot, a pink pig, flowers, a lady bug and more. Since the classwork relied on the use of electric fans to inflate the designs, not all of the inflatables were displayed at once, since the art department had a limited number of fans. But the effect was dramatic.

“I was interested in seeing what the art students would come up with and how the inflatable sculpture project would turn-out. I hope it gives campus a valuable and beautiful example of the importance of art and our talented students,” Haizlett added.

The biggest sculpture, shown at right, is the work of Taylor Still-Pepper of Zanesville, Ohio and Danielle Eddy of Clarksburg. 

William Tallman stands near his huge carrot.

“We used nine tablecloths in all and worked in the drawing room here in the Media Arts Center. It took us about 23 hours to finish. We melted the tablecloths together. It was a challenging project,” the students agreed. They refer to the giant chick as their baby. 

Another big sculpture was installed and inflated by William Tallman, a sophomore from Tyler County. It consisted of a huge orange and green carrot, perfect for the springtime return of farmer markets and home gardening.

29 students participated from two 3D Design classes, including: Madyson Amitrone, Megan Belden, Charles Bickel, Samuel Cornish, Mary Horzempa, Erica Klug, Edward W. Mayfield, Olivia Negley, Annabella Paree, Jacob Pierce, Samantha Shipley, Tyler Smith, William Tallman, Hannah Thomas, Savannah Belden, Zak Campbell, Taylor Cline, Danielle Eddy, Hannah Eller, Lachelle Guinn, Jasmine Keller, Hannah Lynch, Jordan Magnani, Dalton Mattern, Danielle Merritt, Branson Sawinski, Samantha Snyder, Taylor Still-Pepper and Nathaniel Wilhelm.

Previously named the Graphic Design program, the Visual Communications program is just one of the majors offered in the College of Arts and Communication and for more information, please visit WLU’s Visual Art webpage at westliberty.edu/art.

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