student leadership: the backdrop project

the concept: create an interactive backdrop that students would:
a) have a part in creating
b) that would decorate the stage during the conference
c) be a "take-home" piece at the end of the conference

The best way to make this happen would be using separate canvases that students could paint, then be hung, then take home. So, I created a design that would use 72 2ftx2ft canvases, that would stretch 36ft across stage and would be 8ft tall. The church already had some "flats" which would be a "fake wall" that all the canvases would be hung on. After creating the design, I sliced it up into 72 different parts, then printed out each individual piece on 8.5x11 paper (3 times smaller than the actual canvas). Below is a rendering of what I hoped the final design would look like!



the students: at registration for the conference each group would be given a picture of one of the pieces to the backdrop, then a few students from each group would come and see me and I would get them set up to paint their canvas. As each student started painting they knew that it would be part of a backdrop, but had no idea what the "big picture" would look like. It was a crazy couple of hours managing the painting, watching some kids get totally into it, and others just slapping some paint on!
As paintings began drying I had about an hour to ID all the paintings according to a pre-designed grid I had made, then organize them correctly in order to bring them into the conference venue, then hang them all up on stage while Doug Fields was speaking. Below are some pics from students' painting.







the finished product: I never even got a look at the finished product until it had been hung up on stage. I was really happy with how the students got into this project and the end result actually resembled the original artwork somewhat! The added bonus was that none of them fell off while I was hanging all 72 on stage in front of 800 people! Below are some pics of the finished product.






the take-home: during the final session of the conference during communion students' were invited to come to the front and take home a piece of artwork as a reminder of what they had learned during the week. It was really cool to experience, and I loved being part of this project! Below are some pics of the take-home process.





If you have any questions about this project, just leave a comment on the blog and I'll get back to you...

Note: Various pictures courtesy of the PICS Ministry at Saddleback Church