Whitespace artist, Sally Heller, has been an inspiration to the Pre-K Young Explorers class at Granville Studio of Visual Arts in Ohio. GSVA is a non-profit organization collaborating with top artists and designers in building minds and cultivating innovation by bringing breakthrough creative education experiences to Central Ohio serving students of all ages from preschoolers to senior citizens. Rachael Moore, who assisted Sally in building an installation in Ohio, is GSVA’s Arts Integration Project Coordinator. Rachael had her pre-schoolers, the GSVA Young Explorers, construct an installation made with new and recycled materials to create “a contemporary forest of sorts” much like the artificial landscapes Heller is known for. This project is part of the series theme “From the Ground Up” in which the students create “experimental, temporary artworks in nature [including a vegetable and herb garden!] then persevered them through photography produced with digital SLR cameras.” The show will be on display through August at the GSVA Eddie Wolfe Gallery.

Below is an excerpt written by Rachael to Sally Heller explaining how the students were inspired by her work:

“On the last day of class (they come for 2 hours once a week for 9 weeks), the preschoolers were asked if they remembered the name of the lady who our art is inspired by and a 4 year old was impressively quick to call out your first and last name, in which started a “Sally Heller” chant where 12 preschoolers screamed your name at the top of their lungs repetitively for like 7 minutes straight inside the GSVA Eddie Wolfe Gallery where we were in process of installing the show together.  It was crazy out of control, wish you could have been there to experience it.”