Rocks on the Rails

During the summer of 2022, artists Jesse Harrod and Tim Belknap worked with high school students in the Mural Arts Philadelphia Art Education program to develop Rocks on the Rails. Working from their classroom in the Callowhill neighborhood, students were tasked with exploring material culture through their own worlds and were invited to make public artworks inspired by Harrod and Belknap’s practices. They learned about scale, moldmaking, casting, and collaboration, as well as artists like Clases Oldenberg and Susan Collis, who similarly play with our expectations and how we experience everyday objects and materials. Students created cast sculptures from objects that resonate with them in this moment and invite the public to make their own meaning from this temporary sculpture garden.