The kiddos at Lee Elementary wrapped up the school year with a grand unveiling of the mobiles we worked with them to create. Various groups of students created mobile designs, and the entire school held a vote to decide on the final two designs, which we then built for them.
We had so much fun working with these kids. We have a sneaking suspicion that a few future mobile makers might be in that group on students!
A client just forwarded us this photo of the mobile we recently provided. This ceiling feature hangs 14 feet tall by 10 feet wide by 5 feet deep and hangs in the Poinciana Medical Center in Florida.
Matt just returned from Houston, where he finished up this installation in a hospital atrium. We learned a whole lot about lighting along the way, so we're ready and eager for another light/mobile project!
We're making good progress on the lighting mobile we mentioned last week. Yesterday, Matt and Ben got the LED lights successfully installed, and in this picture, Matt is, in typical Matt fashion, ensuring it's flawless.
(The camera settings make the ring look extra radiant. We kinda like the halo look it created.)
Our current project is our first foray into the exciting world of lighting. We're creating a large mobile for a hospital in Clear Lake, Texas (near the NASA campus), out of three translucent acrylic rings, 12 feet, 8 feet, and 6 feet in diameter. Each ring will have LED lighting instead to create a glowy effect. (Is "glowy" a word?)
Here's a "before" shot of the materials:
As we mentioned last month, we've been working with the PTA of a nearby elementary school to provide the students with an art-literacy program.
Now maybe we're biased, but as a couple of artists with design and engineering background, we think mobiles are a fantastic art form to incorporate into a classroom curriculum, because not only does it encourage creative thinking, but it also integrates math, physics, problem solving, and analytical thinking* in general.
Thing is, art, math, and science are each individually important subjects. But introduced together, it create meaning, relevance, and a tangible learning expience.
And besides, as these kids could tell you, it's just plain fun.
*Matt half-jokes that he uses more engineering to make mobile than in his past life as a natural-gas pipeline engineer.
Ekko Workshop now has its own little corner of the internet. Be sure to check out the new website at www.ekkoworkshop.com. (If you're so included to buy something, we're providing free shipping on all orders within the US.)
And if you really want to humor us, you can like our Ekko Workshop Facebook page or become a devoted Twitter follower. (And stick around this here blog for updates on commissions and projects and other fun stuff!)
Be sure to check out our gallery ! We've finally updated it with a few commissioned mobiles (including the one below) that we've completed in the past year or two.
New mobiles in our gallery:
Ruby 2
Progression
White River
Nature Mobiles
Incendiary
Our Ekko Workshop mobiles are on the shelves and ready to ship! If you'd like to buy one, visit our friends at Hanging Mobile Gallery.
(If you'd like to carry them in your retail store, e-mail info@ekkoworkshop.com for wholesale information.)
Matt and Ben got a taste of celebrity last month when they presented to a crowd of adoring fans. The venue was Lee Elementary in nearby Canby, Oregon, and the adoring fans were a group of school children, eager to learn about the school assembly's subject matter: Art is Important.
The students were gracious resection, and so enthusiastic. As Ben put it, if you need an ego trip, just show your artwork to a bunch of elementary students.
