In their element.

Seventh and eighth grade students at White Cloud Middle School, White Cloud, Mich., gave casting design a shot through an artist-in-residence program that partnered them with artist Cara O'Brien to work on a sculpture for the school. Using the theme of natural elements for a paneled sculpture, O'Brien and the students came up with various ways to visually depict fire, water and wind. Students worked in small groups to create sketches representing the elements, which were incorporated into the final layout of the sculpture.

With the artist's help, the middle-schoolers created 18 panels from expanded polystyrene, learning how to cut the foam with a hot wire and create different textures by using various scraping and cutting techniques.

O'Brien gated the foam panels and took them to the basic metalcasting class at nearby Muskegon Community College, Muskegon, Mich., where they were used to make a casting. The sculpture, a community project linking adolescents, artists and metalcasting students, now stands in front of White Cloud Middle School.