SHS Teacher One Of Four Winners in SFMOMA Contest

Lauren DiCioccio, a teacher at the Sacred Heart Middle School, has had her work in exhibits now for fifteen years. From June 15-25, one of her works of art was displayed in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Ms. DiCioccio heard about a contest from a friend, coincidentally another winner, after they shared a post with her about it. The museum put out an open call for an exhibit of contemporary designers making chairs with a focus around sustainability. Several hundred people applied to the “Scrappy Chair Challenge” and only four winners were chosen. Ms.DiCioccio was one of them.

The SFMOMA’s public program’s department decided to give materials from past exhibitions to the artists so that they could create their new chair. Ms. DiCioccio was provided with two pieces of plywood, textiles, and soft sculpture cloth. Before being able to start on her chair she had to create a proposal using a three dimensional modeling software, which can take a shape and turn it into a pattern that could be cut out of plywood. Her inspiration was a piece of chewing gum holding together a bunch of different sticks. She used plywood to create a honeycomb shape, then covered that gridded structure with foam to make it look like a piece of chewing gum. Ms. DiCioccio later sewed and stapled the foam, then upholstered it with pink fabric that she dyed. She attached wood to different sides of the cushion, completing her vision.

All winners had a very different approach and process: one of them burned the wood they were given, creating a final product that looked like a charred stool. Others used only wood. Ms. DiCioccio has had trouble deciding what to do with her chair now that the exhibit is over. On one hand, she wants to sell it, but another part of her is really happy with the chair and wants to keep it.