SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Students at the Marshwood Great Works School in South Berwick have been busy working on a project that combines art and music.
The fifth graders are designing their very own vinyl record albums and even creating music to go along with them.
The school's art teacher, Angela Cuddy, and the school's music teacher, Janice Marro, teamed up at the beginning of the school year to bring the district's first-ever Record Store Day to life.
Cuddy said she started the project by talking to students about the relationship between visual art and music and asked them how the two tied together.
"They gave me some really great answers," Cuddy said. "Like, creativity is eternal, you know? Art is a picture, and music is sound, but really they're so related."
Most of the students had never heard of or seen a record before the project.
"Fortunately, Bull Moose sent us a stack of vinyl so that I could hand them out and just show kids, like, this is what a vinyl looks like. This is what a cover looks like. If you look at it this way you notice it may open like a book."
The fifth graders were asked to design the front and back of the cover, come up with five song titles and mix their own music. Many found inspiration for their artwork from their own lives and the things they loved.
One student based his entire album around ketchup.
"I really like ketchup and condiments," Bodhi Marshall said. "When I close my eyes, and I start thinking about ketchup, I think of wonderful things and that’s just what came to mind first."
In a day and age where things are happening so fast, Cuddy said the project gives students a chance to slow down and really take in the things around them.
"I think it's been important to them to experience the slow process of creating something and really thinking about it, as opposed to an experience that's so fast or instant. You know, which I think is what they're used to
They were even given actual records through a donation by Third Man Pressing, famously owned by Jack White of the White Stripes. When the company heard about what the kids were doing, it was more than happy to donate some vinyl to them.
"On Record Store Day, we're transforming the music room into a record store," Marro said. "The kids are getting pretty pumped about what that will look like, and how that's going to be organized, and seeing each other's work, and it's coming together, which is exciting."
Students will present their album covers on June 1. To see and hear more about the project, watch the full story above.