2021 - Alphonsus Academy & Center for the Arts
Stockyard Institute (SI) has been working closely with Ms. Becky Manuel, Director of Arts Integration at Alphonsus Academy and Center for the Arts (AACA) to imagine the exterior areas of the PK-8 school as sculptural and architectural green spaces for the children of the school with and alongside the community. The initiative is part of the vision of Becky Manuel to imagine AACA's outdoor spaces as inventive living gardens, adjustable open-air classrooms, and as a site for pedagogical interactions and research.
SI has submitted designs for art-making stations and prototypes for seating that second as butterfly habitats created out of materials excavated from AACA. McKay Landscape Architects designed overall architectural plan for the instructional space, which was realized prior to the pandemic by Becky Manuel. Alternative seating, drawing, and instructional clusters are underway. This has been an effort based on a long-standing relationship between Becky Manuel and Jim Duignan to ensure and publicly demonstrate the dynamism of Arts Integration inside, outside, and through the school.