Students investigate what helps a community thrive through an on-campus observation walk of gardens, paths, buildings, plants, and gathering spaces, noting what makes each place welcoming and useful. They study how community features meet people’s needs, critique initial 2D designs, build clay prototypes, and revise individual figures, objects, trees, or buildings for a collective village. A city planner or architect guides students in connecting their designs to community life, cultural traditions, and art made beyond school. Students reflect after making sessions, compare their clay pieces with initial designs, explain how their work supports the community, and exchange ideas with visitors at the village unveiling.

Students will take an on-campus observation walk to study buildings, paths, plants, gathering spaces, and everyday objects that make shared places welcoming and useful. They will design and create a clay figure, object, tree, or building that follows an initial plan, reflects observations or community cultural traditions, and shows how village features meet people’s needs. Through peer critique, prototyping, revision, and collaboration with classmates and a city planner or architect, students will make shared decisions and improve their collective village. Students will explain how their piece supports the community, identify reasons people make art in different places and times, reflect on their teamwork and growth, and exchange ideas with visitors during the village unveiling.

Students will develop a labeled 2D village design showing how a building, object, tree, path, or gathering place supports community life. After peer critique, each student will make a clay prototype and a finished clay figure, object, tree, or building that reflects their original design and community cultural traditions. As a class, students will combine individual pieces into a collective village with roads and shared public spaces, then prepare simple artist statements or speaking points explaining how their piece helps people live well. The final public product is the unveiled village exhibition, where students present their work and talk with community members about what makes a place feel welcoming, useful, and connected.

Students will walk through Liberty Station observing the way a Naval Training Center has been transformed into a community for the public by looking at pathways, parks, houses, storefronts and more. They will be intentionally given a portion of a self guided tour so that they come back together to piece together the puzzle of their experience.

Host a “Village Unveiling” where students arrange their clay houses, trees, roads, gathering places, and community objects into one collective village for families, classmates, and community members to explore. Students serve as guides, explaining how their object developed from an initial design, what community need it serves, and how peer feedback shaped revisions. Invite the city planner or architect and campus staff to discuss connections between the village and welcoming, useful spaces observed on school grounds. Display accessible artist statements with drawings, labels, or dictated descriptions so every student can share their learning and answer visitors’ questions.