Drawing attention to Rhode Island

Ornaments crafted by students to decorate Washington Christmas tree

Posted 11/4/14

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Drawing attention to Rhode Island

Ornaments crafted by students to decorate Washington Christmas tree

READY FOR A TREE: Simone Spruce-Torres, program director at the Warwick Museum of Art, holds one of the student-painted ornaments that will grace the Rhode Island tree in Washington this Christmas season.

Warwick Beacon photos

LENDING INSPIRATION: Rebecca Stockdill, who directed the students, suggested various Rhode Island themes that could be used to plant the globe ornaments.

INTO HER DESIGN: Cedar Hill student Hope Madden concentrates on the design she plans to use in decorating an ornament.

A DC CONNECTION: Chris O’Donnell, a student at Warwick Neck School, is excited about having his ornament travel to the nation’s capital. He lived in D.C. until he was 4 and the family moved to the Ocean State.

HAS A PLAN: Colby Lavoie works on her drawing. She’s a student at Oakland Beach School.

Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2014 10:59 am

Christmas tree ornaments crafted by 24 Warwick students randomly selected from 42 who applied for the program will decorate the Rhode Island Tree to stand alongside the White House Tree in the White House Ellipse this holiday season. There will be 56 trees representing the states and U.S. territories.

The students made the ornaments at the Warwick Museum of Art under the direction of Rebecca Stockdill. Each was given a plastic globe that opened down the middle and then, using a Rhode Island-themed drawing they had done earlier in Saturday’s workshop, painted it on the inside of the globe. The works were finished with colorful bows and a scallop shell Stockdill’s husband found on local beaches while kayaking.

After being on display in Washington, the ornaments will be returned to Rhode Island and given to the Veterans’ Home in Bristol. The students also got to make a smaller globe that they could keep. Themes for the ornaments include lighthouses, the Rhode Island Red, an anchor, sailboats, striped bass and the red maple, among other things.