Students Go Beyond the Page with First Annual Exhibit Design Challenge
- May 7
- 5 min read
The Rabbit hOle hosted its First Annual Exhibit Design Fair on Monday, May 4th, to celebrate the culmination of a semester-long design thinking project – “Beyond the Page” – featuring original exhibit designs and models from 220 4th-8th grade students from eleven classrooms across the Kansas City metro area.
Beginning in January, participating students and teachers worked directly with Rabbit hOle artists and fabricators to conceive, design and build their own exhibit design models for proposed immersive experiences based on children’s books of their choice.
Much like exhibits at The Rabbit hOle, students envisioned spaces with a variety of interactive elements, considered the author and illustrator’s biographies, accessibility, and what approach matched the overall “spirit of the book.”
“The Rabbit hOle’s design approach is very similar to the process the students experienced,” said Rabbit hOle co-director Deb Pettid. “We start with the book and continue learning, looking and modifying.”
During two sessions – one for 4th-5th graders and one for 6th-8th graders – students presented their scale models along with their design planning documents.
“The collaboration, innovation, and excitement from these kids was so inspiring; opportunities for schools to engage in this kind of creative exploration are far too rare,” said guest judge and children’s book creator Jordan Strickland Morris. “The exhibits featured really intelligent design and storytelling choices, hilarious hidden details, and a number of dangerously steep slides. It was almost impossible to choose the winners!
The panel of judges included Rabbit hOle co-directors Deb Pettid and Pete Cowdin; Operations Director Greg Shuler; architects Robert Riccard and Dominique Davison; and children’s book creators Betsy Bird, Rahele Jomepour Bell, and Morris.
Awards were given for Best in Show, Innovation, and Creator’s Choice – an award chosen by the guest author and illustrator judges.
"There is a privilege that comes with getting both a chance to see kids work their wild, imaginative brains into a tizzy of creativity, as well as an opportunity to offer feedback on their ideas," said Betsy Bird who also gave a presentation to students about her work as a children’s librarian and author, and what makes a memorable picture book. "This was a marvelous experience and I'm so grateful I got to take part!”
As part of the program, every classroom visited The Rabbit hOle for a behind-the-scenes tour of its 22,000 sq/ft fabrication studio. Each classroom split into teams (there were 54 student design teams in total) which were then paired with Rabbit hOle mentors for the duration of the project.
Rabbit hOle mentors in turn visited the classrooms both in-person and virtually over the course of the semester to help guide students in their design journeys. Each team was provided with many of the same materials The Rabbit hOle uses to build scale models for its exhibits, including foam, cardboard, clay, and more.
“Model building is such an essential part of the design process,” said Digital Design Coordinator and Beyond the Page mentor Matt Mastroly. “Students had a lot of great ideas from the outset, and as someone who does this work every day it was energizing to provide them with the guidance and encouragement to take their designs to the next level.”
One of the teams Mastroly mentored, Da’Boys from Tonganoxie Elementary, won the Innovation award for their exhibit design of Round Trip written and illustrated by Ann Jonas – a black and white book full of optical illusions.
“We decided to do Round Trip because we thought it was more complex, but simple at the same time,” said Da’Boys team member Kayden.
The Artists from Indian Hills Middle School won the 6th-8th grade cohort Innovation Award for their exhibit of Miss Twiggley's Tree written and illustrated by Dorothea Warren Fox.
“Some of our design process was pretty interesting,” said The Artists team member Harry. “We each made a sketch of what we thought the exhibit should have and then we merged them together and tried to make the tree house look as much like the book as possible.”
The Rabbit hOle plans to host the Beyond the Page Exhibit Design Challenge again next spring.
“The entire semester was very rewarding for out programming team and especially for our fabricators,” said Pettid. “We were all so inspired by the energy and ideas radiating out of the students. Having the opportunity to engage with students on a very deep level, guiding them through the design process, and being part of their excitement surrounding books and creators really helps our team reevaluate our own process.”
4th & 5th GRADE WINNING DESIGNS
Honorable Mentions:
English Landing Elementary - The Rockin Red Readers - Maddi's Fridge by Lois Brandt, illustrated by Vin Vogel
Belinder Elementary The Page Turners - If I Built a Car written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Belinder Elementary - The Plot Twisters - The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Belinder Elementary- The Bookineers - Scaredy Squirrel written and illustrated by Melanie Watt
Toganoxie Elementary - The Book Worms - When I Get Bigger written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer
English Landing Elementary- The Brilliant Book Worms - The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Horizon Elementary School - The Smarties - Mel's Diner written and illustrated by Marissa Moss
Best in Show: English Landing Elementary - The Book Worms- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Innovation: Tonganoxie Elementary School- Da'Boys - Round Trip written and illustrated by Ann Jonas
Creators' Choice: English Landing Elementary - The Page Flippers - The Word Collector written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
6th-8th GRADE WINNING DESIGNS
Honorable Mentions:
North Kansas City Schools - Northland Innovation Center-Sage Program – AAAAAA - Roller Coaster written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
Rosedale Middle School- Miraculous - The Very Hungry Caterpillar written and illustrated by Eric Carle
North Kansas City Schools-Northland Innovation Center-Sage Program- The Berry Pickers- Jamberry written and illustrated by Bruce Degen
Discovery Middle School - The Crocodiles - The House on East 88th Street written and illustrated by Bernard Waber
Indian Hills Middle School – The Spicy Tacos – Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
Indian Hills Middle School – The Strawberries – The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry & the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
Best in Show: Discovery Middle School - The Wild Readers - Where the Wild Things Are written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
Innovation: Indian Hills Middle School- The Artists- Miss Twiggley's Tree written and illustrated by Dorothea Warren Fox
Creators' Choice: North Kansas City Schools-Northland Innovation Center-Sage Program- The Little Red Fish - Swimmy written and illustrated by Leo Lionni
Special thanks to the R and C Charitable Foundation for their support of this unprecedented and epic design project!
