Student success statues tour California
By Matthew Gomez
Staff writer
The project began in May 2008 and was inspired by the sculptures of artist Kiki Smith, who is primarily known as a sculptor.
The statues represent the students — who they are and how their lives have been changed by attending community college. With some 40 schools and 75 students having participated, a lot of stories have been told.
The statues have a metal T-bar spine which is covered in canvas and stuffed with cotton to form the shape of the body. The face is the headshot of a student who has shared their story.
The message of the project is that California community colleges change students’ lives.
“I am grateful to the community college system for allowing me to just be a student,” said Marlene Hurd, a student senator at Laney College.
The statues have traveled around the state. They visited the capitol in Sacramento a few times, including at the March in March earlier this year to protest the budget cuts, and have even been as far as San Diego.
The statues are all hand-painted and assembled by students. Each statue costs around $100 to make and the project has been funded mainly by donations from various organizations.
“City College is by far the largest participant,” said Leslie Smith, associate vice chancellor of government relations. “We’re showing off who and what we are.”
The project “brings home the real effect community colleges have on the people,” said Diamond Dave Whittaker, a City College student senator.
The students’ stories are written on the back of the statues, and a voice box inside each statue tells that student’s story in their own voice when a button is pushed.
No two statues are alike, as everything from the way they’re painted to the story they tell is completely unique.
Smith finds the voice box to be crucial in connecting with people because it’s hard to ignore someone’s voice, especially at the capitol when people pass the statues and begin hearing a student tell their story in their own words.
“I like the project from all aspects — from the art to the advocacy,” Smith said.
Rachael Hall and Chris Olson, both student workers in the City College government relations department, have been touching up the statues and preparing them for an unveiling at Community College Week , which began Nov. 1. The statues will be displayed in Yerba Buena Gardens and will help celebrate the unity Community College Week inspires.
“This was the project to advocate against budget cuts,” Hall said. “They chose to advocate through art.”
Student participation is still needed. The statues always need touch-ups as they travel the state and are displayed. At the moment, it is mainly student workers painting and maintaining the quality of the statues. “Many hands make light work,” Hall said.
“They’re pleasant. They’re comfortable. They’re not offensive. They’re not protesting. They’re actually people,” Olson said. “They make it a very human form, instead of a number for the budgets.”
“They don’t have one of me yet,” Whittaker said, “but they will.”
If you want to help with the Student Success Stories Project, contact Leslie Smith, 415-452-5132.
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