One day Morgan County High School art teacher Ty Manning gave his students left-over cardboard boxes from new SMARTBoards. He said he was leaving the classroom but gave specific instructions that when he comes back, they better have built something epic.
“I like to do a lot of psychological warfare on them,” Manning claims. “But I’m not really a psychologist. I’m more a psycho.”
In a room swathed with student graffiti and globs of paint on the wall, it’s no surprise they prepared something out-of-the-box for AFLAT (A Funky Little Art Thing), an annual exhibit at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center that will showcase student artwork and live music on March 1.
Student-teacher Taylor Southerland had the idea of putting a unique spin on going green.
She was inspired by "Wasteland," a film about a Brazilian photographer, who made art out of garbage and took portraits of landfill pickers, while incorporating the very trash they were digging.  
So Manning’s class decided to recreate famous works of art, using recyclable materials, dirt and red clay.
“We basically found out a lot of teachers don’t recycle,” Manning said.
Manning said that he’s not the kind of teacher that will tell his students what to do, step by step.
“I’d rather you fail miserably and learn than me tell you what to do and you not think for yourself,” he said. “That’s the beauty of art, I think.”

The Morgan County Schools’ Art Dept.’s annual student art show – “A Funky LIttle Art Thing,” or AFLAT – will be held March 1-3 at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center.
An opening reception featuring live music will be held on Thursday, March 1, 3:30-6:30 p.m. at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center.

Printed in the March 1, 2012 edition.