Dayton youths invite all to take a seat

When Kapono Fuller started working on his art project at Dayton High School, he had one major obstacle.

“The chair had no legs,” he explained.

So, using his friend’s legs as a model, he created plaster molds that he later transformed into human-looking legs from fiberglass.

“I thought it would be something wild and out of the box,” he said. “I’m really pleased with it.”

The Take a Seat project is a collaboration between Dayton High School and the Central Lyon Youth Connections in which art students have redesigned, repurposed, decorated and re-engineered seats. The finished products will be sold or auctioned to benefit a scholarship fund through Central Lyon Youth Connections, which provides community and school-based youth-development services.

“It’s amazing to see the creativity they exhibited,” said Patty Sanborn, volunteer coordinator for Central Lyon Youth Connections. “Some of them had their vision change over the course of the project. Some couldn’t stop with one; they had to do two.”

About a dozen of the seats have been completed and were available for purchase through a silent auction at the Night of the Arts at the high school Wednesday evening. The remaining chairs will be for sale at Community Treasures in downtown Dayton. Sanborn said she hopes to continue the project through the summer and into next year.

Hannah Fowler and Kelsey Denning, both 17, started out painting their chair blue, but ended up changing their minds.

“We decided black and gold, then we painted this cityscape,” Fowler said. “The rhinestones are stars.”

Denning said it turned out better in the end.

“We really love it,” she said. “I like the colors together. It’s really formal, classy.”

Beyond art, the project involves computer students who are working on a website and business students who are creating a business plan.

Art teacher Malaynia Wick said the project has pushed her students beyond their normal repertoire as well. They have learned design and woodworking, even some engineering.

Kylie Crosby, 18, learned a new technique called one-stroke painting.

“Instead of going through and adding the details in, it’s just one stroke,” she explained. After seeing the finished product, she’s confident she made the right decision.

“I think it gives the flowers a little more detail, makes them more realistic,” she said. “I love that I was able to learn the new method.”