Religion intersects with art in Stuart Hall’s chalice-making project

At the same time, in a coordinated effort, Jeannette Dufrene, Stuart Hall’s Lower School religion teacher, taught the second graders about “God the Potter,” who molds us all into uniquely beautiful “holy vessels” – much like the chalices the students were creating in art.
 

“The idea behind this cross-curricular effort is that clay is a symbol that is very much present in our religion lessons,” Dufrene explained. “Not only does clay come up as an important symbol in the story of Creation – when God breathes life into us – but it also comes back as a symbol during Lent,” said Dufrene, noting how her Ash Wednesday lesson examined how our physical bodies return to the earth’s clay – symbolized by the ashes traced on our foreheads.
 

“God molds us and shapes us and breathes his life into us, not only in Creation, but in the process of our journey of faith,” noted Dufrene said. “He creates us, shapes us and stretches us to become the best form of ourselves that we can be, so when the boys take ownership over their clay to make their chalices, they’re able to see that process and act like ‘the maker’ (with God) of their lives.”
 

The chalice-making unfolded over three art sessions. Using a type of clay that dries in the air (and doesn’t need to be fired in a kiln), Anderson began by teaching her second graders how to make a “pinch pot” to form the “cup” of their chalice. Next, they made their chalice’s stem by rolling clay into a cylinder-shaped “coil.” Finally, a second pinch pot was made and turned upside-down to form the base.
 

The artists’ biggest technical challenge was joining the stem to the base to create a sturdy structure. Unlike Play-Doh, this involved a careful, three-step process and some new vocabulary words:
 

First, the young sculptors “scored” the connection points by lightly scraping them with a fork; next, they “slipped” the clay components together, adding a little water first (similar to licking a postage stamp to make it stick to an envelope); finally, the boys “welded” together their clay pieces – with the help of a toothpick-like tool and their fingers – to form a solid connection.
 

“With your fingers, make sure those pieces have become one,” Anderson said.
Once dried, the second graders incribed their chalices with symbols, painted them gold and embellished them with gemstones.
Religion and art came together again this school year when Anderson taught her Lower School students the materials and techniques involved in glass-blown art.
 

“In religion, we learned about glass-blown art from a faith perspective, meaning that God has a vision and molds us,” Dufrene said. “The ‘fire’ that tests us also is what makes us stretch and transform!”