Otterbein students are racing against the clock to complete a wooden model of a baby dragon that will debut at the Westerville Public Library in early October.
The art installation was commissioned by the Westerville Public Library for their Wizards and Wands festival, an event intended to re-create the different types of fantasy worlds readers can find in popular books in real life.
The design of the dragon was developed by first-year graphic design major, Alex Newsome. The dragon is made up of wooden triangles bolted to one another to make a geometric outline of a dragon’s head.
Newsome invited other students onto the project, including Max Sprowls, a sophomore systems engineering major. Sprowls was invited to work on the project while the project details were still being finalized three weeks before the first day of classes.
“It would be really fun to see it come together and get to make something that will be on the public library,” Sprowls said.
While all the students are knowledgeable in their field, the building process does not come without some challenges.
According to Sprowls, one of the more difficult aspects of the process was “visualizing how the individual pieces” came together, especially before they began to connect the pieces of the dragon.
Senior systems engineering major Rachel Kulha said the design “seemed pretty limited.”
To meet their October deadline, the team not only split up the work to paint the dragon and craft the frame of its body, but they also agreed to meet on Saturdays in the Maker Space at The Point to keep up the pace.
This new baby dragon will replace Hilda, the dragon installed on the roof of the Westerville Public Library in 2020.
