Collaborative Display – Wings

I love creating displays that engage students. Whether that’s because they can interact with the display itself, like my Mr Potato Head display, or because they have played some role in creating the display, I find that interaction increases engagement and that means the library displays are more successful.

I have seen collaborative art, especially wings, on social media and social bookmarking sites and really wanted to try my hand at it. With the help of our trusty library paper cutter (which you can read all about on this post here) I was able to cut over 300 feathers (no way was I attempting this project if I was hand cutting those feathers). I then wanted to tie the project into both literature and the school community.  As the end of the school year approached, the graduation of our Year 12s was the perfect opportunity to encourage them to ‘fly’. I also found the magnificent picture book Feathers by Phil Cummings on our shelves, which provided the perfect lead in. Our school is a Christian school, so linking the wings into a Psalm was a nice finishing touch.

As part of their library session, students in Years 1- 5 were read Feathers and then asked to colour in or write a nice goodbye message to the Year 12s on their feather. Collecting them all, I sorted them into left and right facing feathers (conveniently having about equal of the two). I then cut a basic wing shape onto a large roll of white paper (butchers paper – you can get rolls from art suppliers or offcuts from your local newspaper) and started to glued the feathers on, working from the outside of the wing inwards, overlapping as needed.

Students have loved having their photo taken standing in front of the wings – young and old students alike. The younger students also like pointing out their feather and seeing how it makes a contribution to the entire piece.