Published: December 19, 2008 11:35 pm         

Meridian students combine work, art

Eighteen students of the Meridian Technology Center masonry program turned brick laying into art this semester.

Led by their teacher, Bret Pickens, the class designed and laid brick, stone and numerous other materials to bring the outdoors indoors for the holiday.

The design, which featured a bridge, waterfall and mosaic buffalos, was the brainchild of Nick Magee, the full-time student in the program. Curves, radius walls and a raised patio helped complete the interesting design and added difficulty to the project.

“Seeing it start on paper to seeing it raise and come out with a finished project was really amazing,” Magee said.

He said he came from an artistic background, having majored in art in college, so he enjoyed incorporating some of that into the design.

“(Magee) did an awesome job,” Pickens said. “The rest of the class had their input, and it just came together from there.”

He’s been doing a similar project for a number of years, but said this year was one of the best he’s seen.

Pickens said the goal of the project is to create a job-like situation.

“The students need to learn that they need to have a sense of urgency and pay attention to detail,” he said. “It has to be right, and it has to be on time.”

Because of that, Magee said Pickens did a good job of pressing the idea of urgency on to the students.

“You have to work quickly because in this profession, time is money,” he said. “And that’s what, as a student, we need to learn.”

The project started in the middle of the semester, after many of the students had had only nine weeks of experience.

Magee, who is in his first semester with the program, said it was a huge undertaking for the students.

Amanda Fortenberry, a high school senior, is in her second year in the program and said working on the project was different for her the second time around.

“This year, I was the one giving instructions and helping,” she said. “It was a great team effort and a great learning experience.”

Fortenberry said she wants to pursue architecture, but loves brick masonry.

“I figured I was more of a hands-on person,” she said. “I like that it is addicting to me.”

Magee said students worked a total of 240 hours to construct the project and that they had to stay self-motivated.

“Motivation (is hard) for students. There are days when you don’t want to do it,” Magee said. “But getting through that and making it happen really get you through the day.”

He said Pickens was a helpful teacher who loved his craft.

“More than anything else, having a teacher that is passionate makes all the difference,” he said.

Pickens said he wanted to infuse that drive into his students so they would have a sense of pride in their accomplishments.

“I’m very passionate about masonry. I want them to learn to have passion,” he said. “We don’t build houses, we build homes.”

     

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