900 Hands 2003
Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Umbrella Films
Directed by Ann Carol Grossman
VHS, color, 30 min.
K-6 and Adult
Art
Date Entered: 06/04/2004
Reviewed by Louise Greene, Art Library, University of Maryland, College Park900 Hands is the short and quietly inspiring documentary of the Millennium Sculpture Project at the John D. Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts. With support from the Department of Parks and Recreation and funding from the Brookline Arts Commission, the school community came together to create a work of art envisioned as a legacy to future generations.
The video follows the work from its inception in December 1999 through a process that involved 430 children in grades K-8, a sculptor, a mosaic artist, a ceramicist, a heavy equipment operator, a mason, the school principal, teachers, and a team of parent volunteers. The finished work – an intimate amphitheater described by a sixty foot expanse of low curving walls decorated with original ceramic and bronze relief panels – finally came to full realization with the dedication ceremony in May 2001. Children and adults alike enjoy the site as an outdoor gathering-place where they come to sit on comfortably proportioned walls surrounded by their artwork. Among the panels, themes from nature, particularly animals and plants, predominate. The designs, as one participant observed, reflect the way children work: spontaneously and from the heart. The success of the Millennium Sculpture Project has underscored the importance of the arts in a community where school arts programs are considered central to child development, but remain vulnerable in times of fiscal crisis.
This well-crafted film, which received an Honorable Mention at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival in 2003, captures very nicely the non-linear path that creativity takes from concept to reality, and the satisfaction that comes with perseverance. 900 Hands shows us in simple and direct terms how children and adults can work harmoniously toward an enduring common goal, and can meaningfully articulate insights gained along the way.
Anyone involved in arts education will find this film of interest, and those contemplating an undertaking similar to the Millennium Sculpture Project will not want to miss it. 900 Hands is recommended for libraries with collections in art education and contemporary art.