As senior Baylee Spraggins slicks glue across the newspaper that forms the head of Malcolm X, senior Olivia Dalton holds the base of his neck, ensuring that the sculpture does not topple over. The students of Mrs. Ridlen’s Sculpture I class are working on their “Larger Than Life” project, which asks them to sculpt a celebrity they find influential or someone who personally affected their lives. For Spraggins, this means bringing awareness to an often overlooked historical figure.
“I’m making Malcolm X because I think he was very influential, and I feel like sometimes he’s underrepresented in comparison to Martin Luther King Jr…they’re both equally as influential,” said Spraggins.
Spraggins is one of two people working solo for this project, which holds a special significance to them. Spraggins’ parents were born nearing the end of the Civil Rights era.
“I think that played a lot of importance in how they grew up and how their tone, language, and attitude … rubbed off on me and made me into a better person,” said Spraggins. “Malcolm X promoted…a more progressive [approach]. If you’re hurt, that doesn’t mean you have to sit there and take it. You can fight back. That’s what I liked most about him. And I think that’s why he was so underrepresented.”
To emphasize the distinct perspective of Malcolm X, Spraggins made sure to accentuate certain characteristics of his.
“I exemplified some of his features, like his glasses, his cheekbones, his head, just parts of him that made him identifiable…almost like a caricature. So that way it’s still identifiable as him, but it has an artistic twist and [brings] those parts of him more to the forefront, instead of him just being so flat and normal looking,” said Spraggins.
For Dalton and her partner, senior Phoebe Walters, the inspiration behind their sculpture was closer to home.
“Me and my partner chose Mr. [Taylor] Yocum, because he’s always been there for us since freshman year,” said Dalton.
Mr. Yocum was the first person that came to their minds upon drafting ideas for the project due to the understanding he extends to his students.
“He’s a SpEd teacher, so he kind of understands how we need help more than other teachers do. And he’ll give you advice on anything and everything if you talk to him. He’s very open to people,” said Dalton. “…In my life, he’s one of the people that kept me going when it was really hard to get out of bed and go to school, because I knew there would be a familiar face there waiting for me.”
Walters and Dalton have not yet told him about their creation, but Dalton expects that he will find it surprising.
“We’re going to give it to him after we’re done [and say] ‘Surprise!’. And we’re going to make him wear it… I hope he displays it in his classroom,” said Dalton.
Like Spraggins, Dalton made sure to include specific details about Mr. Yocum that aid in defining the role he played in their lives. As a sign of his good advice and wisdom, Dalton included his wrinkles.
“It’s gonna be mean, but we included some of his wrinkles…his dimples, and we also had to make his eyes really big and accentuate his smile, because he’s a very happy person. So his smile is very important to add,” said Dalton.
