A construction site serves as art inspiration,
all you need is a hard hat and imagination.
Believe it or not, drywall can be made,
into wonderful sculpture that never will fade.
It can be transformed with the greatest of ease
into carvings of faces and horses and trees.
All you need is some water, some sticks and some glue
You just won’t believe all the things you can do.
Learning Objectives
Identification:
Students will learn about relief sculpture and architectural elements.
Historical:
Students will talk about Egyptian heiroglyphics (picture words) and relief sculptures that can be seen on Roman and Greek structures.
Creation:
Students will create a relief sculpture using drywall.
Appreciation:
Students will learn to appreciate the art created not only by them, but by others as well.
What You Need:
Drywall. (12"x12" or smaller)
Water and spray bottles (empty glass cleaner bottles are great)
Popsicle sticks, pencils, glue and paint if you have it.
What you Do:
Make the drywall damp and peel the top layer of paper off. You can soak the drywall in a shallow sink
of warm water for about 2-5 minutes or you can spray the surface with water until the paper peels away.
Remember, the wetter the drywall, the more easily it will break or crack.
Once you have the paper all or mostly removed, you can carve directly into the drywall using a
popsicle stick. You may choose to outline an image in pencil first. If the drywall is too hard, soften it by
spraying water on it.
When you carve, make sure you don’t go too deep because the drywall will lose its strength in areas
that are too thin.
When you have your design fully carved you can either leave it as is or paint it using whatever paints
you have available to you.
Tips:
Always make sure that the drywall is wet, so that students are not inhaling dust!!!
To seal the drywall, mix up a mixture of glue and water (80% white glue, 20% water) and spray the drywall
with the mixture. You could instead use hair spray or a spray varnish to seal the drywall as well.
The top of a piece of drywall is the side which tapers down at the edges. The bottom of a sheet of drywall
tends to have the manufacturers name stamped on it and there are usually little holes here and there.
After you have peeled the top layer of paper away and your drywall has had a chance to dry,
glue it to a piece of cardboard or wood for added strength.
Before you start carving, draw out a few sketches first, deciding which areas will be carved away and
which areas will stay put.
KinderArt® Lesson/Activity 
