RWU Student - Impressions

Hi my name is Nicole Lombardi and I am a senior at Roger Williams University. I am working with Johanna McKenzie on the ALRI – Timberland 02863 Boot Project. Over the course of the semester I will be working as the Public Relations Intern on the project. I will be keeping an on going journal of the semester's events which will help others understand how the project is coming along. Here is my first journal entry about the first day I met the students who will be participating in the project.

9/25/07
My first day meeting the Central Falls High School students
It was 8AM and Johanna, Felicia, Priscilla and I piled into the car to begin our journey to Central Falls High School. Once we arrived we signed in and met up with Pam, another artist who is helping with the project. We waited outside the Art Room for class to end and as I walked around the empty hallway my eyes were surprised to see all the walls had been painted in beautiful murals of their school mascot and intricate mosaics of different shapes. As the bell rang and students flooded the hallways the five of us entered the Art Class Room to meet Susan Vollucci, the teacher whose student will work on this project. The class room was filled with all different types of art from paintings and stained glass to pottery and drawings.
Once the students were all seated Susan introduced Johanna to the class to explain that their class had the great opportunity to be a part of 02863 Project. As Johanna explained how each student would be given a pair of Timberland Boots to paint, the eyes of every student lit up. She brought out samples of the boots that the ALRI artists had worked on. Each one was unique to the artist -- one had a tiger hiding in the brush, another had a spider web with flames, while others took a more abstract approach using more designs and shapes. The students quickly started picking out which boots they liked and which ones they would wear themselves. The room became full of ideas and paper templates of the boots were handed out for students to start sketching.
As I walked around the room and talked to each student it was amazing to see all the different perspectives and ways this one boot could be interpreted through the eyes of the students. Some focused on things they were interested in such as soccer, dragons, butterflies, while others looked through art books getting inspiration from famous artists’ paintings.
One student really stuck out, when I asked him what he was thinking about drawing he said, “I want to draw something I think Timberland would want, something that they would sell.” He is hoping if Timberland ever sees his boot they may want to mass produce it some day. Some knew exactly what they wanted to put on their template while others sketched things on white paper to take home and practice until their favorite piece came out. The ALRI artists walked around the room giving suggestions and providing insight into what they were thinking when painting their boot. Some students liked Pam’s “tattoo” design so much they are trying to incorporate that into their own. Before we knew it, it was 11AM and class was over. Everyone left the classroom excited for the semester ahead filled with hopes and expectations for what the boots would look like come December.