Emma Young - Hampton Senior
The Hampton Art department was gifted a heart sculpture by the Hamilton County Foundation in February of this year.
Hampton Students K-12 had the opportunity to draw what they wanted on the heart leaving the tough decision to Art teacher Megan Hudiburgh to decide on the final design. The final decision landed on senior Cameron St. Johns' idea of cows and bright flowers mixed with senior Lillian Dose’s idea of the town square with a hawk flying down the main street.
Graduate Emma Stump came up with the quote “Small Town Big Hearts,” which Hudiburgh felt represented Hampton in itself. Graduate Jesse Dowling had an idea of bringing the water tower to the heart since that is a big part of any town.
The heart's design was put to work right away and with the help of Drake and Dane Schafer sanding the heart to prepare it for its first coat of paint. Graduates Kaylei Joseph and Kylie Mersch started helping with the sky while St. John and Dose helped out when needed.
The goal of the sky was to create a sunset with different pinks, oranges, and yellows to bring out the top of the heart. Graduate Cadance Enderle helped with priming, lettering, and concept, while Dowling and Stump helped with the concept. These seniors soon left, leaving Dose and St. John to work on the heart for a day in the summer and continue through the current school year.
St. John’s main part of the heart was to complete the front by starting the buildings while Dose focused on the back with the cows and water tower. St. John worked on the front making the left front side of the heart an image of Hampton in the late 1800s while transitioning on the right side to Hampton as we know it today. He added buildings such as The Village of Hampton and the old Restaurant on the square. Dose created a fence and finished the water tower while bringing in different shades of green to the grass.
The Hawk was added after the sky was completed as the hawk represents the Hampton High School mascot. Later adding golden rods, the state flower, to the front and back of the heart to help bring out the colors of the grass creating a vibrant flower that represents more than Hampton but Nebraska.
Junior Ethan Hurt joined the heart process by finishing buildings, adding trees, and other small details. Junior Samuel Wishman contributed to the heart by painting details on buildings and making other small designs so that the heart would be completed faster. Senior Jacob Wishman primed the heart and helped move it around the classroom to keep it in a safe location.
The Hampton Art department finished the heart in late September leaving smiles on community members' faces. The department placed the heart outside of the gym for the Volleyball Senior Night to present it to the community.
Many community members were left in awe at the student's work commenting on how the heart shows the talent of the Hampton Art students. Hudiburgh is thrilled to have helped guide the students to the finished project and to have given back to the community in such a unique way.