Creativity Takes Flight | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post, Jamitress Bowden, is a contributor to ECU News Services.

ECU sculpture students show work in airport exhibit

    Sculptures by seven East Carolina University art students are on display at the Coastal Carolina Regional Airport for the next year.

    A selection committee including airport director Tom Braaten chose the pieces from the 14 submitted in January. Under the supervision of Hanna Jubran, ECU professor of sculpture in the School of Art and Design, students were able to produce pieces of art and gain experience to help their careers take flight.

    "When I get out of school, I'll be able to enter for big city commissions and I'll know what I'm in for and that's important," said Jordan Brown, who had his work selected for a second time. "It gives us an opportunity that we might not ever get."

    Jubran said the exhibition is a great experience for students because it involves a contract between the artist and the airport.

    The artists were to build a sculpture that can withstand the elements and potential hurricane weather.

    They were awarded signage for the piece on display at the airport and $285 to pay for the materials needed to create their sculpture.

    Next March the airport will choose one sculpture for purchase. The other pieces will be removed to find a more permanent home.

    "To do something like this is amazing. Somebody can win $1,250 and it gets you involved with how your life may end up being after graduation," said ECU senior Ethan Morrow.

    Morrow created "Model NC," an airplane constructed in the colors of the North Carolina state flag, with wings designed as an outline of the state's borders.

    "People will be reminded they're in eastern North Carolina, where the Wright Brothers actually took flight," said Morrow.

    All selected pieces convey a concept related to flight. Chris Morgan, an ECU senior and native of New Bern, designed a piece that illustrates wake turbulence, which forms behind an aircraft while in flight. The large-scale piece "Vortex of Flight," uses vertical and horizontal direction along with the colors of blue, orange, yellow and red to recreate this element of flight.

    Morgan said her son served as inspiration for her third exhibition piece. "My son is a Navy jet pilot and flies F/A-18 (fighter jets). I talked to him about the wind currents that occur and he told me about jet wakes."

    Senior sculpture student Jordan Parah used wind as inspiration for "Up, up and away," a 10-foot representation of hot air balloons. "Wind in the air is a very big part of flight, so I felt that would be a good thing to represent in the sculpture." The light blue and white in the sculpture represents the wind and the clouds carrying the balloons.

    "I'm all about unseen movements of nature, different forces of nature – wind, rain, sun, all the different (ones) – and how they react," said Parah.

    This is the sixth year ECU students have had art featured at the airport.


ECU senior Chris Morgan works on "Vortex of Flight," a sculpture designed to illustrate the turbulence that forms in the wake of an aircraft in flight.


All the selected works on display in New Bern. Clockwise from left, they are "Flying Luminaries" by Jordan Brown, "Flight" by Hanna Brown, "Falling Leaves" by Gene Gilikin, "Model NC" by Ethan Morrow; "Up, up and away" by Jordan Parah, "Oh, I wish I could fly" by Kimberly Foytlin, and "Vortex of Flight" by Chris Morgan. (Contributed photos)