Claydoe - Gail Dickel Info

During the summer of 2001, Gail Dickel did what many other Omahans did -- she spent a lot of time admiring the J. Doe public arts project that captivated the town's imagination. Little did she realize that many of her art students at Christ the King school had also spent the summer J. Doeing around town. When Gail found out that they were as enthused as she was about the J. Doe's, her idea to integrate Claydoes into the classroom soon became a sure fire hit with the kids.

"We talked about the purpose of public art," said Gail. "I showed them photographs that I had taken of the J. Doe's, and we talked about what the artist may have been thinking. We even had one of the J. Doe artists come in and talk to the kids."

The kids in the 6th-8th grades were given the opportunity to design and sculpt their own miniature J. Doe's out of clay. Hence, the name Claydoes. The children all had their own ideas about how to make a Claydoe. Some chose to model their Claydoe from an historical perspective, some contemporary, and some just to be decorative.

Gail also involved the younger grades at Christ the King school as J. Doe's were made out of paper, poster board, and photocopied J. Doe figures. But in the end, the Claydoe's were particularly effective because they allowed the students to conceptualize and create in much the same manner as if they were producing an actual J. Doe themselves.

Gail calls herself a "jack of all trades" when it comes to creating art herself. But with all her teaching it's difficult for her to find the time to do a lot of art projects. Nevertheless, she did find time to create a plaster J. Doe which was donated for auction to Methodist Hospital's "Cancer through the Arts" project. And what was Gail's J. Doe called? Georgia Doe'Keefe! Georgia Doe'Keefe integrated several of Georgia O'Keefe's famous paintings into the sculpture's plaster body.

Gail has taught at Christ the King school for over ten years and also occassionally teaches a class for the "Cancer through the Arts" project. But beyond all of her teaching and art dabbling, Gail says that one of her favorite pasttimes is quilting.

It's hard to imagine her students quilting their own J. Doe's next year, but who knows?

"I found this to be a successful activity across the board," said Gail. "They're already asking to do it again next year."