The Young and the Fearless

It's 3:30 in the afternoon and students at Germantown Elementary School in Montgomery County are heading home. But for seven young artists and their art teacher, Samantha Baker ’97, it’s time to put finishing touches on their “Mosaic of Maryland,” one of 50 decorated Fear the Turtle sculptures selected for exhibition.

Baker learned about the call for artists while surfing the university’s Web site just before the entry deadline. When her proposal and design were accepted, she put out her own call for entries to all the fifth graders she teaches. Baker provided a list of Maryland symbols and asked them to select one, tell her why it was chosen and to provide a drawing—all by a deadline.

That’s how Daniel Flythe’s blue crab, Hannah Schrantz’s Ocean City, Justin Goh’s Ski Liberty, Gerald Crawford’s chicken, Mallory Bolling’s state fair, Elizabeth Fries’s oriole and Laelah Ortiz’s horse became part of a sculpture that made its debut on Maryland Day at the university.

“They did all of the research and came up with the drawings,” says Baker, who who notes that everybody collaborated on all aspects of the finished sculpture. For example, a flag was originally part of the Ski Liberty drawing but the group decided it worked better as the base. And when the students looked at Testudo’s 10 toes, they were inspired to inscribe in paint the word, “Germantown.”

Collaboration does call for creative license, such as the moment a cow in a farm scene was inadvertently painted pink. Voila! A pig, instead. “I generally had an idea about where I wanted the sections to be, but I really let them guide it,” says Baker of the completed project. “I liked thinking about what Maryland looked like and putting our ideas together,” says Hannah, whose parents are Maryland alumni.

Those ideas took shape through a range of art techniques that Baker taught, among them sponge painting, drawing and brush painting. Acrylic paint, usually verboten in elementary school, was their medium. One artist learned its staying power when a fellow artist, working in close quarters, dripped red paint into her hair. The saving grace: “It was Valentine’s Day,” says Mallory, recalling when the project first got under way. The painting took about five weeks to complete, working after school and during recess.

As much thought went into creating the sculpture’s front design as the shell mosaic. Plans called for a verse of “Maryland, My Maryland,” the state song. After reviewing all nine verses, the students chose the fifth because it refers to a “shield … bright and strong.” The last touch includes painting their names on the base.

The sculpture’s home is by the Journalism Building on McKeldin Mall. “I am so happy that ours is going to be on campus because we can take the kids down and they can see it,” says Baker. The artists concur, relishing the thought that work created by grade-school kids has earned a prime place at a university. —DB

Spot, Snap and Share all 50 Sculptures Be sure to fold out the front cover to discover a colorful map, showing where all the Fear the Turtle sculptures can be spotted. If you’re heading to Ocean City this summer, check out the Taste the Tradition sculpture by Phillip’s. Annapolis’s Lawyer’s Mall, Washington’s Union Station and Baltimore’s Harborplace are among other destinations where you might want to strike a pose. And, there are more than two dozen places on campus alone. Send us your digital photos and you might see them posted on Maryland’s 150th Anniversary Web site. There, you will also find details about the upcoming auction of the sculptures on Oct. 19, 2006, and learn how you can make your favorite Fear the Turtle sculpture your own. —DB

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