GORHAM – Nineteen Gorham High School art students recently presented 19 chairs they decorated to residents and families at Gorham House on New Portland Road.
In a project called “Chair Masters,” art was painted on folding metal chairs.
“Students chose an artist whose work they connected with, and I assisted them with the creative problem solving so that students with all different abilities could find success,” said Gorham High School art teacher Sarah Dolley. “We began by spray painting them with a primer for a base coat, then used acrylic paints for the rendering and finished them off with a clear top coat.”
“It was a wonderful project,” Donna Davis, activities director at Gorham House, said this week, calling the artwork “superb.”
The project materialized following a suggestion by a resident at Gorham House, a comprehensive residence for senior citizens. Davis said parents and Gorham High School Principal Chris Record also attended the presentation of the art-decorated chairs.
“It was a packed house,” Davis said.
Dolley said each student in presenting a chair, told about it and the reason for choosing the artist and art.
“I really wanted my students to interact with the residents and share their stories about their chairs and was more than pleased when they went above and beyond and walked around with their chairs and interacted on such a personal level,” Dolley said.
Before the presentation, the chairs were displayed in the high school lobby for a week.
“This project has not only impacted Gorham House residents and families, but also the student body and faculty at Gorham High school,” Dolley said.
Student artists next fall plan to paint more chairs for Gorham House and Dolley said Record would also like an art project with the school’s stock of folding metal chairs.
“I foresee my students doing something in this capacity for many years to come,” Dolley said. “It has been a truly authentic art-making experience for these students, and it’s just a bonus that their work is a permanent installation in an environment where it is admired and appreciated.”
Gorham High School sophomore Elizabeth Kutzer chose artist Shepard Fairey and his “Make Art Not War” for her painting on a folding chair for a project for Gorham House residents. 
Timothy Meuse displays his rendition of Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World.”
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