The framework was made from four kinds of willow trees that are planted in the ground
A “living” sculpture called the Green Dragon was officially welcomed to the grounds of Cortes Island School on Friday.
Principal Michael Datura said the sculpture is alive because it’s actually planted into the ground.
The framework was made from four kinds of willow trees by island artists Amy Robertson, Helen Hall and Eve Johnson, the Campbell River School District said.
At almost 16 metres long, the Green Dragon is designed to be big enough for students to sit inside.
Datura said the school and the artists decided a dragon was the “obvious choice” to adorn the kindergarten-Grade 12 school, which will have about 100 students in the 2025-26 school year.
“Dragons are super-hot right now,” he said.
He said that Dayna Davis, a “much-beloved” art teacher who retired from the school last year, came back to write a song with the students to be sung as they paraded around the field at the dragon welcoming with flags they had made.
Primary-grade students did their part by making dragon eggs out of papier-mâché.
Songs were played in a medieval style in a nod to the era that dragons often inhabit in storybooks.
Students wove willow into the dragon’s body to help thicken it, said Datura.
He said the sculpture fits in with plans to emphasize a deeper connection to the land for the students, including “rewilding” an area of the grounds into a wetland, which it was originally.
“Much like ponds in a garden, it becomes like a magnet for life,” Datura said.
The hope is to eventually plant a willow grove near the wetland and establish a medicinal-plant garden inspired by the Klahoose First Nation.
Datura said the school installed a willow butterfly sculpture last year next to a pollinator garden in another part of the grounds.
[email protected]