Congrats to a Spooky Young Artist from Kansas City

There are more than 1,200 grotesque carvings here at the Cathedral, and if we ever decide to add more, we're definitely going to talk to a creative fourth-grader in Kansas City.

Let’s give a round of applause to Alice C., a fourth-grade student at Notre Dame de Sion Grade School in Kansas City, Mo., who won her class competition to design a spooky grotesque, like the ones found here at the Cathedral.

Each fall, Notre Dame de Sion Grade School hosts the Very Spooky Art Show & Contest. This exhibition features ceramic artworks from fourth through eighth grade students. Each grade level is assigned a different creative clay challenge: fairy houses, jack-o’-lanterns, monster mugs, and grotesques. Students are encouraged to “dream big” when designing and their creations. Many artworks feature a spooky or macabre theme, while others approach the challenge with humor.

For their project, fourth grade students in Meg Schwend’s art class studied the history and special features of Gothic and neo-Gothic architecture. Students learned that gargoyles are sculpted stone waterspouts placed on the edges of roofs to move rainwater away from a Gothic building’s walls, while grotesques are decorative carvings of animal or human faces placed lower buildings’ walls with no practical architectural purpose.

After taking a virtual tour of the gargoyles and grotesques featured here at the Cathedral, the young artists began designing their own ceramic grotesques. Students rolled flat slabs of clay then sculpted three-dimensional faces, paying close attention to producing exaggerated expressions and unique textures. After firing the clay in the kiln, students applied a faux stone paint finish to bring out the details of their artworks.

Entries were judged on craftsmanship and creativity. The carvings were supposed to be scary, silly, funny or downright bizarre; each entry was supposed to have one or more unique elements (such as horns, claws, a tail, or wings) and unique facial features.

A panel of judges (including, in full disclosure, yours truly) voted and selected Alice C.’s grotesque as the winning artwork for her grade! Congrats, Alice!

Scroll down for photos of her winning design.