Friday, January 25, 2019

BOOM! The Explosion of Arts on The Hill

MBA artists are flourishing, and the story of one sculpture by John Dinkins '19 might explain why.

As a crack shot on the shotgun team and alternate captain of the hockey team, John is good at smashing things. Maybe a little too good.

In his art class, after pouring countless hours into shaping, molding, and reshaping the clay, John had a self-portrait bust ready to be fired. When he lowered it into the kiln, all was well...
BEFORE: John's piece is at the top.
John and his two classmates waited anxiously as the kiln worked its tricky magic on their clay. The result was not what they expected...
AFTER: John's piece is...in pieces.
The explosion of the entire neck (and parts of the head) in the capricious kiln gave John only one option: start over. He didn't have to settle for that though. Instead of being crushed himself, John was "happy that the damage wasn't worse." His optimism, which most people would find hard to muster in response to such an event, got him right back to work...
Picking up the pieces
Initially, John tried to salvage the original plan for the bust, with the help of some good friends and a good bit of tape. The explosion had been too destructive for that idea to move forward, so John pivoted his plan.
Putting them back together?
Then you saw the creativity of an artist awaken. Even if it did look a bit scary in its awakened state.
Sometimes things have to go wrong before they go right.
The blindingly blue paint signaled a dramatic turning point in the transformation of the piece that should have been a total loss. Much to his art teachers' relief, that shocking hue was just a base coat, just the beginning. Having lost the supportive base of his bust (aka the neck), John had to find a new way to present the piece. His solution? Steel pipes of course. The final result is a hauntingly powerful one...
Still - John Dinkins '19
Best Sculpture
MTRSAE
As if the successful transformation of this piece weren't clear enough, it went on to win the Best Sculpture award at the Middle Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition at Belmont. 

More remarkable than the piece itself or the award it earned is the story it tells: one of resilience, optimism, determination, and creativity. Outside of art class, John has had ample opportunity to develop those traits while skating on the ice in a hockey game or taking aim at a sporting clays competition. He loves making those clays explode.

Because the boys have multifaceted opportunities to learn and grow at MBA, this kind of story is not unique to John. Academics, arts, and athletics are not adversaries --- they're allies. That is why the arts are flourishing on The Hill.

Click here to see all the artists recognized at the Cheekwood Scholastic exhibition. 

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