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Could This Be the Biggest Art Docent Ever?

By Lindsay Parker
In my twenty plus years as an art educator, I’ve found very few universally beloved artistic concepts – I mean… that’s kind of the whole point of art, right? “Different strokes for different folks” and all that jazz – individual preference and perception that comes from a subject whose very essence lies in the beauty of difference of opinion and optics. However, one concept that seems to transcend this idea, and draw in and delight those of all ages and tastes, is artwork that goes really, really, small, or really, really, big in scale – take those teeny tiny, sharpened almost to the eraser, pencils the kids love to make or the famous, giant popsicle on the wall of the Art Room that’s so popular it should have its own yearbook photo. Luckily for us, this fall’s Art Docent Unit didn’t just go big, but went huge with its focus on contemporary artist, Robert Therrien.
Student sculpture inspired by Robert Therrien
Renowned for his larger-than-life sculptures of domestic objects, Therrien’s work provides the perfect opportunity for our John Thomas Dye Creatives to explore perspective and scale through an artistic lens. K-6 students thought like Therrien and examined the relationship between reality and fantasy by creating enlarged sculptures based on timeless school supplies. Choosing either a classic crayon or #2 pencil as inspiration, our JTD artists made armatures (scaled up by four) out of everything from mailing tubes and snow-cone cups to air dry clay and metallic tape.
 
Some artists added individual touches to their supply sculptures through creative text choices for the brand or color names, and others chose to stick to creating an exact replica of the original in true Robert Therrien style! Grade 6 students helped build additional oversized items like glue sticks, scissors, erasers, a composition notebook, and even a super version of the supply bins that adorn the tables in our Art Room, to help complete this colossal collection. Ms. Gleason, Ms. Hossain, and I would like to thank our incredible 2025-26 Art Docent Committee: Jessie Chen, Uyên Chu, Alexandra Donfeld ‘00, Caitlin Hartigan ‘97, Grace Medinger, and Neema Sahni and all the other parent volunteers who gave their time to help make this unit a huge success.
 
We hope you enjoy these towering treats for the eye and how they’ve changed the saying from, “Go big or go home.” to “Go big or go even bigger in the JTD Art Room!” A selection of items from this unit are currently on display in John Dye Hall and, if you are looking for even more monumental fun, be sure to check out Robert Therrien: This is a Story, the largest museum exhibition of the late artist’s widely adored work to date, on view at The Broad, November 22, 2025 to April 5, 2026.

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The John Thomas Dye School


11414 Chalon Road
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Phone: (310) 476-2811
The John Thomas Dye School admits students of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

Located In Los Angeles, CA, John Thomas Dye is an independent school for grades K-6. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.