Isabella Dotson stood behind her desk carefully using a pencil to sketch on her mostly blank mask constructed of plaster.

The plan, the drawing to her left shows, is to create a classic comedy-tragedy mask in black and white. The process is slow, though, and she’s found translating her two-dimensional drawing to a contoured surface challenging.

“The sketching is most difficult,” she said, “because it’s rough.”

It’s the Warring elementary student’s first time drawing on such a surface, and that’s the idea, Kathy Orza said.

Orza’s fifth-grade art classes this year are making plaster masks, a project made possible through a grant from Vassar College.

The teacher said giving students a chance to use different mediums not only opens them to artistic avenues they may not otherwise experience, but introduces the need for critical thinking skills when dealing with something such as difficulty drawing and painting a rough, three-dimensional surface.

“It’s a long process. But I think it’s worth it,” Orza said of the project, which spans roughly two months of weekly classes. “I’ve had kids say to me, ‘Miss Orza, we’ve never done anything like this.’ That’s the goal.”

Orza introduced the project last year after receiving a $300 donation, but only barely had enough plaster to finish. For this year, she worked with Vassar, communicating what supplies would cover all their needs, from plaster and gloves to paint and decoration. The college purchased the supplies with a $700 grant. Vassar also planned to have student volunteers help Orza, though that fell through.

Before they can get their hands dirty, the students are walked through the process of designing their masks. Orza said the lesson begins with talking about different styles and the students do research on the history and meanings behind masks. They must draw and refine their designs before applying layers of small, wet strips of plaster to plastic mask shells. After they dry, the students then reinforce the masks with more plaster, fix any bumps and – if they choose, add shapes like horns or scales and plaster those. Finally, they paint the masks and decorate with such items as gems, feathers or pom-poms.

As far as design parameters, “they had the freedom of doing anything appropriate that they wanted,” she said, noting one student is making a mask with a Honduran flag on the bottom half and Mexican flag on top to symbolize their heritage. Kashif Edwards drew a mask with cat ears that is red on the left and blue on the right, which he called a “devil demon hero.”

“This is like a spirit that could lead to destruction or a hero and peace,” he said.

Nasir Hunter designed a mask that only covers the bottom half of the face, like a Japanese hanbo mask.

“I think it looks really cool,” Nasir said. “I think it looks better than a full mask.”

At the other end of the art table, Noah Dalmida did the same for his black mask, which has a yellow star and blue accents. Both said working with the plaster was “easy” and “fun.” Noah said he enjoys art class for projects such as these.

“I like that we can create our own stuff,” he said, “and we can visualize what we can make.”

Orza said she plans to put the masks on display and the students will be able to take them home at the end of the year.

“I want them to keep this,” she said. “I’m hoping they keep it forever and look back and say ‘Look what I did.’”