On August 14, 2015 a new public art sculpture, Bottle Rocket, was installed at the Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing. Created through a joint collaboration by REACH Studio Art Center and Impression 5 (as well as with support from many other organizations, including the Arts Council of Greater Lansing), this large sculpture became a model for inspiring a sense of place and the idea of making your community a better place.
Guest artist, Dan Nunez, helped design the concept, which was to celebrate “backyard science” with a visual representation of the classic bottle rocket experiment, with a whimsical take. He used volunteers from Impression 5, as well as teen students from REACH, to contribute to the project, mainly in the construction of some of the heavy metal design as well as painting the exterior fun and bright colors.
Nunez hopes that this art piece installed at Impression 5 will help community members of all ages see that science and art in education are not mutually exclusive and transition our collective thinking from such notions of the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education to a more collaborative STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education.
He also hopes that the process of creating this sculpture – from planning to community input to design to execution – will teach the many teens who took part in the project what it means to create change in your community and present your ideas to be heard.
(Source: REACH Studio Art Center)