CANTON, Ohio — The first thing needed when making art out of canned goods? A "can" do attitude.
"People have to know what color cans are so they don't get them mixed up," fourth grader Datiel Thompson says. "And it's very fun."
Canton's STEAMM Academy students sort through thousands of cans, graphing them by color and food type. Corn, green beans, and Chef Boyardee are transformed into art — there is a Minion, an alligator, Andy Warhol's Campbell's tomato soup can, and more. All will be featured as part of Canton First Friday.
It's harder than it looks.
"[There are] things that you didn't think of, like the size of cans that are different, the colors of cans, and how cans aren't solid colors, there is multiple colors involved," Adrienne Dickerson, the fourth through sixth grade art teacher, explained.
"We've been buying yellow corn a lot," remarked fifth grader Isshiah Crockett.
Limited colors present a few challenges, but students' progress is good.
"I thought it was going to be a lot longer," Crockett admitted. "I thought we were going to need to build it for at least three months."
The whole school is getting in on this canned food art project. Students wrote letters asking for donations and mapped where cans came from, and the school dietician is creating recipes based on what comes in. But a critical part of the project is all about the math.
"We had to measure how tall it was and how wide it was, and then we had to add it up," eighth grader Camden Dennis said.
"We had to see, like, calculate it out, see how big it would be so we don't mess it up,” explained 7th Grader Jacob Foley. “So, we know exactly about how many cans we would need."
There’s not only teamwork involved here, but other important lessons, as well.
"The eighth graders are leaders in our building, so they're kind of helping and guiding our fourth graders, fifth graders, sixth graders to be STEAM students," Dickerson noted. "Like, to know all these things."
The food will not go to waste. After First Friday, its heading to the Stark County Hunger Task Force and the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, making students feel good, among other things.
"Probably exhausted and tired because [of] how much work we have to put into it to make sure that it doesn't fall down or collapse," sixth grader Jazara Smith said.
November’s First Friday will be from 5-9 p.m. The Campbell’s Soup can will be at Creative Dreams/Juilliard Arts Center at 610 Market Ave. N and Gator's Joint at 235 Cleveland Ave NW will feature the alligator. Others will be along Fourth Street, and the students plan to live build the Minion at Centennial Plaza.