On May 27, Pop Artist Michael Albert visited Whitby School in Greenwich, CT, for a hands-on collage workshop. The visit took place during E-Term, or Experiential Term, a week of immersive learning beyond traditional classrooms. Middle School students transformed discarded cereal boxes into collages inspired by Mr. Albert’s “Cerealism” style. Albert demonstrated his signature swirl effect with pieces from a Cap’n Crunch “Crunchberries” box, while students used Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles, Cheerios, and more. The workshop connected professional Pop Art practice with sustainability, visual communication, and hands-on design. “Having Michael in the studio rewired how students see these boxes,” said Whitby Design Teacher Phil Lohmeyer. “Students walked away seeing discarded packaging as design material, instead of trash.”
The workshop was part of “Collage Creation,” an E-Term course led by Lohmeyer and Math Teacher Padma Iyer. The experience included a Q&A, workshop, reflection, gallery walk, and signed poster giveaway. Participants explored Pop Art, upcycling, branding, and geometric and organic shapes. “This workshop gave students a way to include math in the creative process,” said Iyer. “They arranged and compared shapes while thinking about geometry, pattern, and balance.”
During the visit, fifth-grader Isabel Song interviewed Albert for Whitby News Network, a student-run video series. Albert told Isabel he began making collages in 1994 with “stickers, labels, and junk mail.” Describing his favorite collage, a world map, Albert said he used letters to spell famous places in geographical order. “It took me almost two years to make,” he said. “It’s also kind of a geography lesson.” Isabel called it “like a lesson that uses words instead of pictures.”