SC artist teaches North Vista students about collaging

FLORENCE — Armed with only a stack of magazines and glue sticks, fifth-grade students at North Vista Elementary School went to work Wednesday creating a colorful class collage with the help of Columbia native Carl Crawford.

Crawford, a freelance artist who developed his own style of collaging, taught students how to assemble pieces of paper from magazines to create a colorful silhouette of a saxophone player performing for a crowd of people.

Crawford said he wanted to expose students to a form of art that might not be readily available to them and show them the value of teamwork.

“Anytime you have an opportunity to go into a school and talk to the youth, which is your next generation of leaders, is always good,” Crawford said. “I believe every child should be (able to experience) any opportunity that’s available to them.”

Crawford said he was exposed to a variety of techniques while in grade school and won his first art award when he was in the fifth grade.

It wasn’t until he attended Dreher High School that he worked with collages on a more in-depth level. He said he was introduced to the works of Romare Bearden, an African-American artist who was known for his cartoons, oil paintings and collages. Another influence included African-American artist Jacob Lawrence.

From there, Crawford’s love for art grew into his own unique style of collage. He went on to receive an associate degree in commercial graphics from Midlands Technical College in Columbia. He later studied under Larry Lebby, a well-known Columbia artist.

Crawford said he makes his collages “tighter,” which makes the piece of art look more intricate in detail.

The finished product looks more like an oil painting, he said, but if you looked closer, you can see the different shapes of paper used to form shapes or figures.

“I wanted to give people the illusion that when they look at this work, it’s going to look like a painting, but it’s nothing but paper,” he said.

Catherine Johnson, the school’s assistant grant manager and art teacher, said Crawford’s creations are right in line with some of the work created during the Harlem Renaissance, the era students will study during art class.

Johnson said the class collage will be matted, framed and displayed in the school.

Crawford’s visit was made possible through an Arts in the Basic Curriculum grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission.