Four Fine Art students ‘Flip the Script’ in York installation project

Four Fine Art students recently made an impact on the region’s cultural community – and one of its leaders – during an art installation project for Cultural Alliance of York County. And the experience, which one of the students said was a lesson on the impact non-profits have on their community, was a great learning experience for everyone involved. 

“I do feel like I have learned a lot about how non-profit organizations operate,” said Molly Ruch, a rising Fine Art senior. “… It felt good to be able to contribute to one and meet some of the people involved.”

Flip the Script, an art installation project commissioned for the annual meeting of the Cultural Alliance of York County, was completed by Ruch along with three other PCA&D Fine Art students: Sarah Herron ‘27, Lexus Schack ‘26, and Anthony Torres Rutherford ‘27. Students engaged in the project “every step of the way,” says PCA&D Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs Justin Phillips, “from an initial discovery meeting, research, conceptual development, and prototyping. The students worked on actualizing the project with our community partners on build days at PCA&D York, where they engaged in hands-on making.”

The end result, says artist Rita Whitney, Director of Impact at the Cultural Alliance of York, was an interactive art piece that was so impactful that it was saved to be used in other settings after the Cultural Alliance’s annual meeting. Whitney, who served as the installation’s project lead, notes that Flip the Script has become part of the Storefront Catalyst Program of the York County Economic Alliance.

The piece, according to the Cultural Alliance, was “originally created to represent paper pages unrolling from a scroll, and as a structure to hold memories by its viewers.” When they were initially given the prompt of “Flip the Script,” Torres Rutherford says, it signaled an opportunity to “get the people at the (annual meeting) to be as involved as possible” by given them a chance to add to the sculpture by writing their own thoughts, which were then added to the piece.  “I thought of it kind of like a reflection piece,” Ruch observes. “My thinking was, it was a chance for them to write down their own story, their own script.”

“The Cultural Alliance is just always looking for interesting ways to collaborate and highlight the importance of the arts,” Whitney says. “When we have our annual meeting … we like to create a one-of-a-kind installation that really ‘wows’ our guests and shows off artists that we work with. With so much overlap with PCA&D in 2024 and their support for our York artists, it was a perfect opportunity to highlight (the College) as well.”

The process

Whitney worked with the four PCA&D interns to ideate the final project using Design Thinking techniques, planning, prototyping, and installation. Artist Scott Bitzer also worked with the interns, teaching the team about material choices and basic woodworking skills. Then everyone pitched in for the final physical construction. 

It was, the PCA&D interns say, a valuable experience to work in collaboration with each other and other artists on a project. “This was my first experience working with a large group on an installation,” Schack says. “This is beneficial as it offers experience for future opportunities.” And the community-building aspect of the project was especially impactful, she adds. “It was also cool to see what we could do in the limited amount of time we had [and working with a limited budget]. We were able to achieve a lot.”

“I really like the idea of continuing work with communities on projects, especially ones that are geared towards public art or better access to art education, and this internship was directly in line with that goal of mine,” Herron observes. As a group, Herron adds, “everyone was just as willing to jump in as the next person, and that made working as a group an incredible experience. Rita Whitney and Justin Phillips were also vital to making this internship happen, and I do not believe it would have been the same had it been anyone else heading the experience.”

The internship and installation expanded the group’s practical skills as well as their interpersonal ones. 

“Moving forward, I know there will be other situations that require me to be comfortable with handling materials, drafting out a process, contributing my ideas, and communicating my ideas to others,” Torres Rutherford says. “Having these skills gives me more confidence to communicate what I am thinking artistically …”

The full project, Assistant Dean Phillips says, “kind of simulates what happens in the creative field. It was good preparation for real life, because you could definitely be offered a project or commission … like this, and you have to figure out the roadmap and deliver in a timely fashion.”

And Flip the Script was impactful for the community, too. 

“I was blown away by how many folks participated in the installation by writing meaningful arts experiences on the cards we provided, and hanging them on the installation,” Whitney reports. “Our donors at the annual meeting loved the piece, and even more, they loved that we were able to work with PCA&D to do it.”

Working through initial concepts using Design Thinking. Photo courtesy Rita Whitney.