2023 - 2024 School Year
​Alcona High School

Local ceramicist and Inspiration Alcona board member Helen Hierta and teacher Eric Carlson led students in creating a permanent art installation at the school. The four-by-eight panel shows what the students said was important about their home county. The photos above show students making individual projects and parts of the ceramic mural. The final two images show the completed project.

April & May, 2023
Alcona High School and Flint Institute of Arts

Helen Hierta brought a new learning initiative to 15 students in teacher Erich Carlson's Introduction to Art and Design class. During two weeks, she, Erich, and Michigan Art Teacher of the Year Craig Hinshaw led the students through the first steps in creativity using clay. On the last day of the project, the students bused to the Flint Institute of Arts, seeing the glassworking area, eating lunch at the museum and even getting their hands into action in  the pottery classroom. The photos below show scenes from the first year of the project.