MV Celebrates Christmas in the 70s at Sparkle Sandy Springs

For the second time, Mount Vernon students and faculty built, designed, and created a Sparkle House to be featured in the Sparkle Village, a month-long display of miniature lit homes as part of the Sparkle Sandy Springs holiday celebration.

In recognition of Mount Vernon’s founding year, honoring the School’s 50th celebration, this year’s MV Sparkle House transports you back to December 25, 1972. Both Middle and Upper School students collaborated to design and built this groovy dollhouse complete with shag carpet, psychedelic prints, and vintage Christmas decorations.

Students across Upper Campus worked on this project in different aspects, partnering with faculty members Lynn Luster, Susan Edwards, Chris Andres, and Lauren Terry.

In Upper School Ceramics, students created tiny items on the wheel – lamp bases, plates, and vases. Additionally, they built several of the objects seen in the home such as the legos, teddy bear, and clock mice. Even the Christmas tree ornaments are made of clay. 

Ceramics teacher Lynn Luster shared, “As a class, they continued to build ceramic skills such as score and slip and smoothing. Students also focused on working as a community on such a collaborative project. They had a scale to work from, and estimated the correct size of things using a scale model.”

In Middle School Visual Arts, students helped create the original mood boards for all of the rooms, inspired by wallpapers that were created in the Middle School Graphic Design class with Lauren Terry. 

With their mood boards set, students then created miniature paintings, coffee tables, presents, the jukebox, houseplants, the guitar, accent pillows, the starburst mirror, and more!

In 2019, Susan Edwards and MV Middle School students took inspiration from famous Pop artist Claus Oldenburg, a group of artists who played with scale, making large and oversized decorations. The 2019 Mount Vernon Sparkle House included candy canes made out of pool noodles and red duct tape and giant popcorn strangs out of Great Stuff insulation. It dawned a large, in-house, laser-cut “Made in MV” sign on the front.  

Be sure to stop by the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center/City Springs area during this holiday season to see Mount Vernon’s 1972 Sparkle House and all it has to offer.