Newspaper Clippings
THE LABYRINTH
Students follow path to find inner peace By Elizabeth Billips- True Citizen 12-11-2013 The Labyrinth. Ancients walked it in search of inner peace and transformation. Now, a group of teenage artists has created one for Burke County, planning and painting the same twists and turns of millenniums past. “It makes you think a little,” 17-year-old Kanon Daniel says, eyeing the paths to the labyrinth’s core. “It helps you find your center.” Like most of the other 19 teens who’ve spent months researching, designing and creating the huge work of art in the parking lot of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Kanon has gleaned exactly what her art teacher Stan Dodson had hoped. “High school students are constantly searching for self and identity,” he explains. “They are looking for a place to belong and exploring ways for their skills to be assets. This project has been a great reflection of life.” The project has been a long time in the making. For some time, the congregation at St. Michael’s had been unfolding a giant plastic labyrinth in their social hall for lone and group meditations. Rector Jim Shumard liked what he saw but was looking for something more permanent that could be shared with the community. And when the church asked, the Burke County High School Art Club jumped. Most of Dodson’s students had never tested their talent beyond the high school campus and had never had the opportunity to be part of something so much bigger. “Often I tell my students that the questions are more important than the answers – this is a great example of that in action. Asking questions like ‘What will happen if I get involve, pick up a their design, which is modeled after the famous labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral near Paris. Along the way, they’ve intermingled, dined and discussed their work with everyone from church members and city officials to 12-year-old Robbie Williams who rides his bike over every day to watch. “I like the leaves and the vines,” he says as the students dip their brushes for a final touch-up. “I like it all.” For 15-year-old Cameron Chalker, the camaraderie has been a bit of a surprise. “ “In school I would be on the other side of the room doing my own thing. But to do this smoothly, I’ve really had to learn to work with everybody else,” he says, panning the exbrush and make a mark?’” he explained. “The process often reveals the product but many times the product is the process. I want my students to be charged with being well-rounded people of the community. The product here is their involvement and the spirit of loving their neighbor and giving back through their time and talents.” |
And that involvement is something students had to dive headlong into. After extensive research, sketching and schematic scaling, the teenagers presented their plan, complete with calendar, costs and a step-by-step video, to the church vestry for an official vote.
After getting the thumbs up, they began measuring off the parking lot and marking off preliminary lines for panse he’s helped blossom from the concrete canvas. “It shows how time and effort can create something neat … something people will want to see and will use often.” He explains how the labyrinth’s circular pattern connects with its vines, tree and verse, I am the vine, you are the branches — each part more meaningful because of the other. “It’s all very fitting,” he says, not missing the parallels between the labyrinth and its creators. Kanon loves it too, and also loves that the labyrinth will remain for her hometown long after she leaves. “I’ve grown up on art and always wanted to do something big with it,” she muses. “I’d love to come back years later and say, ‘I did that.” Nearly all of the students and their teacher have walked the newly painted paths over and over, each time coming closer to something they didn’t set out to discover. “The labyrinth’s twists and turns feel like the twists and turns of our lives. And when we walk it with other people, we are reminded that no one makes this journey alone,” Dodson says. “Although walking the labyrinth is definitely meant to facilitate individual introspection, it can also be a powerful experience of community. We realize we are all on the same path … some are just at different points of the journey.” |
BLESS IT
There’s more in store for the Burke County Art Club. On Dec. 22, the Bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Georgia will travel to Waynesboro to consecrate the labyrinth.
FINDING THEIR WAY
The students volunteered their time through ARTreach, a program that combines community service with
self identity and the creation of art. “The labyrinth is the first of our community projects and we look for it to become a
beacon directing our path in the future,” Dodson said, noting the program is designed around giving back through
art with a purpose. St. Michael’s donated seed money to ArtReach and others may do so also if desired.
There’s more in store for the Burke County Art Club. On Dec. 22, the Bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Georgia will travel to Waynesboro to consecrate the labyrinth.
FINDING THEIR WAY
The students volunteered their time through ARTreach, a program that combines community service with
self identity and the creation of art. “The labyrinth is the first of our community projects and we look for it to become a
beacon directing our path in the future,” Dodson said, noting the program is designed around giving back through
art with a purpose. St. Michael’s donated seed money to ArtReach and others may do so also if desired.
High school students create labyrinth behind church
By Lisa Kaylor- The Augusta Chronicle 12-14-2013 Nearly every morning, Hazel Gerlinger walks the twists and turns inside a labyrinth in the parking lot of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Waynesboro, Ga. She’s usually barefoot because she feels more grounded that way, and she tries to empty her mind and focus only on the twisted path in front of her, following it toward the circle’s center and back out to the perimeter. “It’s interesting because it’s different every day,” Gerlinger said. “It’s hard to explain, really. It depends a lot on the mood that you’re in.” The new labyrinth uses space behind the church that once was a tennis court. It was dedicated and consecrated by the Rev. Scott Benhase, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, on Dec. 7. Seeking to turn the space into something the whole community could use, the church turned to art teacher Stan Dodson and the Burke County High School Art Club to complete the project. “We were in the midst of redesigning and reconfiguring what we wanted to accomplish as an art club,” Dodson said. “During this time, we had been talking about wanting to do some kind of community project. We wanted to develop a group called Art Reach, which combines artistic projects with community outreach. We would do extensions of the classroom but outside, so we would really be giving our time and talents back to the community.” Dodson said he wanted to do a labyrinth one day, but because of its complexity never imagined it would be the first project for Art Reach. Beginning in August, about 20 art students began measuring, sketching and researching labyrinths, types of paint, costs and other issues associated with the project. Through October and November, the students put paint to concrete to bring the labyrinth to life. Some students worked about 40 hours a week, Dodson said. A vine makes up the circumference of the maze-like path, and trees in the four different seasons represent the seasons and circle of life. “It was interesting to see the kids put some practical math skills on a surface that was 60 feet by 40 feet, and take something that was on an 8½-by-11 sheet of paper and move it to a huge space without a projector,” Dodson said. “It was really neat to see them in action and see some of their math skills.” Dodson said he hoped to teach the students that like the labyrinth, reaching the end was less important than going through the process. “So much of what I teach the students is really about identity, because I’m working with high school students,” he said. “They’re always trying to find their place in this world and their identity. Their search for self. This labyrinth translated really well to those concepts. The labyrinth itself is really just a metaphor.” |
The Rev. Jim Shumard, the pastor of St. Michael’s, said the concept of the labyrinth is not “New Age,” as some people have expressed. Rather, it’s an ancient concept dating to around the year 1200.
He said while he would like to see the labyrinth draw more people into the church, it’s really more of a public service. “A spiritual public service, for those who would like to use it,” he said. “Some people that may not be comfortable in a church may be comfortable in the labyrinth.” |
Labyrinth Dedication
Learn about the history of the labyrinth
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Program from the labyrinth dedication ceremony
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https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/bchs-art-students-prepare-for-virtual-show/
https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/understanding-life-through-art/
https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/students-artwork-featured-in-super-bowl-exhibition/
https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/bchs-art-student-places-in-the-congressmans-art-competition/
https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/understanding-life-through-art/
https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/students-artwork-featured-in-super-bowl-exhibition/
https://www.thetruecitizen.com/articles/bchs-art-student-places-in-the-congressmans-art-competition/