ALUMNI ON CAMPUS
Dennis McGonagle ‘93
The Journey
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Lao Tzu The students of Dennis McGonagle's fifth grade class
at Lincoln School will be holding an exhibit of their
"Journey" sculptures in the Library Gallery of Whittier
College during the month of March.
When McGonagle heard that the Whittier College Library
Gallery was available for an exhibit, he challenged his
students to create a sculpture depicting someone who was
going on a journey. The students were asked to show in
their sculptures where this person was going, how they were
getting there, and what they were taking with them.
The challenge for Mr. McGonagle was to design a lesson that
could be done quickly so as to not take time away from
science, physical education, and social studies, the three
subjects that are usually taught after lunch time every
afternoon.
Amazingly, the students were able to create these works of
art in just two 45-minute art lessons. The students did the
rest of the preparatory work for the project as outside
homework assignments. In the first art lesson, the students
created a setting for their character using slabs of clay
that had been prepared by their teacher in the Whittier
College ceramic studio.
"I wanted them to make a work of art with a strong narrative
quality", McGonagle explained. "By focusing on the setting
the first day, they were able to build a stage for the
protagonists in their sculptures".
On the second day, the students created the characters for
their three-dimensional artwork using sketches that they had
drawn in their journals for homework assignments. They were
shown how to attach the figures using the same scoring and
slip technique that McGonagle had learned from David Sloan
when he was a student at Whittier College.
The final step was to glaze and fire the ceramic sculptures
in the Lincoln School kiln. "Most of the glazing was done at
lunch time and after school, the teacher explained. "When I
first opened the kiln after the pieces had been fired, it
was like Christmas morning", McGonagle said. "All thirty-one
of the sculptures made it through the firing with out any
calamities. The color was beautiful."
The students were absolutely delighted to see how well their
sculptures turned out."
Dennis McGonagle has taught fifth grade at Lincoln School
since 1994. Prior to that he worked as an art consultant for
the Whittier City and South Whittier Elementary School
Districts. He graduated from Whittier College with a
Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art and recently graduated from
Cal State Long Beach with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in
Studio Art.
McGonagle has painted more than twenty murals over the past
two decades. He is completing preparations for an exhibit of
his paintings in the Lobby Gallery of the Shannon Center at
Whittier College which will open on April first.
The exhibit will run from March 6 through March 31. The
Library's hours for viewing the exhibit are:
Mondays-Thursdays 8am-11pm
Fridays 8am-5pm
Saturdays 10am-5pm
Sundays 12pm-11pm
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