Almost 11,000 Hexagons have been displayed from across the US and the world since 2007. The Interdependence Hexagon Exhibit features visual art by students and communities created inside a hexagonal template.
The September 6th opening of the exhibit marked the 13th year of the project with over 300 regional hexagons gracing the walls of Stories’ Literacy Center at the Marketplace at Steamtown, Scranton PA. In addition to viewing hexagons created by the local schools and communities, an installation of photos and videos from international participants’ projects were projected on the walls — adding up to over 800 hexagons represented. Participants come from California, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and internationally from Australia, Greece, India, Japan, Nigeria, Nepal, Poland and Uganda.
An important contribution this year was a partnership between students from Wyoming Seminary Upper School and the Eastern PA Coalition on Acid Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR). Facilitated by science teacher Andrea Nerozzi and EPCAMR director Bobby Hughes, these students studied the environmental devastation resulting from mining. Many of their hexagons were created with iron oxide pigments left in the wake of mining.
The evening celebration featured hands-on hexagon making and coloring of the Scrantastic Community HexaDoodle — a black-and-white mural assembled from brush-and-ink hexagons created earlier in the year. All of this was supported by the calming fusion sounds of the Mark Woodyatt & Jacob Cole duo.
Also on display is the “Hexagon Flying Pencil” — a 5-foot hexagonal pencil, conceived and created by artist-teacher Olaniyi Sunday Olaniran. It houses hexagons by 25 elementary students from Nigeria expressing hope and dreams for a peaceful world.