OCSA students turn pumpkins into art for auction

The Joker, Jabba the Hutt and Garfield are at a school. No, it’s not the start of a joke, the three pop-culture characters were made out of pumpkins by Orange County School of the Arts students — a beloved tradition at the Santa Ana campus.

Each year, students in the school’s visual arts conservatory – open to those in grades seven through 12 – design and construct pumpkins using a variety of mediums, including paint, clay, cardboard and glitter, for the Painted Pumpkin Auction. In keeping with the Halloween theme, the student’s inspiration came from popular horror movies, cartoons and books.

The pumpkin auction raises money for buying art supplies for the conservancy’s students, said its director, Paige Oden.

Lola Yagerlener, 16, an 11th grader, said she drew her inspiration from “The Labrynth,” a movie from the ’80s. When asked how she came to watch such an old movie, she replied, “My dad. He’s a fan.”

“My favorite movie is ‘Nightmare Before Christmas,’” said 12th grader Pilar Rivera, who titled her pumpkin, “Sally’s Pumpkin Before Christmas.”  “Sally is my favorite character from the movie, and her dress is very detailed and she’s really fun to paint.”

The auction opens online at 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 10, and closes at 9 p.m. Oct. 17. It is open to the public and can be found at ocsarts.net/pumpkinauction.