Black Light Pumpkin room showcases artistic talents

Typically, a dark pumpkin patch may be the setting for a spooky Halloween tale.

Last week, it was the setting for showcasing the artistic talents of Mill Road Elementary School’s fourth grade.

Room 116 on Thursday and Friday became a black light art show featuring dozens of neon pumpkins.

Each fourth grade student, during Maria Taylor’s art class, created a pumpkin out of recycled newspaper and plaster before decorating them with fluorescent paint while working in the black light.

The installation, which Taylor brought to the school last year, was inspired by a lesson on Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who utilizes polka dots in her work and creates “infinity rooms,’ in which she uses mirrors to make dot-filled spaces appear to extend out forever.

“She makes pumpkin lanterns and rooms that appear to go on for infinity,” Taylor said. “Our take is, we can’t make pumpkin lanterns but we can still make pumpkins that glow.”

Classes were invited to come to the room for an “indoor field trip” and invited to leave their comments on a large sheet that also glowed.