For Matt Fisher, creativity thrives at the intersection of art and engineering. As assistant director of the Teaching Resources Center and Student Educator Learning Factory (SELF) Design Studio, he’s the mastermind behind the Cardboard Robot Parade, which will make its second annual trek down the Jackson Library Lawn on April 5 at 3:45 pm.
This walking art installation is part of UNC Greensboro’s Science Everywhere Festival. The Cardboard Robot Parade invites students, children, and other community members to design their own cardboard creations to wear. Participants can make them at home or join Fisher and his band of student robot engineers at a workshop April 5 starting at noon to design and create their own wearable robot costumes from supplies in their studio at the School of Education.
Engineering resilience
Inspiration comes in many forms, even cardboard.
“Conceiving of a cardboard robot was spontaneous,” Fisher says. “It just evolved when I started working with cardboard to build sculptures.” While home sick for a week, he got the wild idea to build himself into the sculpture.
“I made a big robot head and then a body and I thought, ‘I can’t wait to get students to do this,’” he says. “It’s an extension of The Good Human Initiative we started during the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was to make art and give it away and create a small moment of joy for people. The Cardboard Robot Parade is one way to create the most awesome moment for kids in one shot.”
In 2024, he brought the idea to the SELF Design Studio in UNCG’s School of Education. Equipped with a 3-D printer, a Cricut for cutting custom designs, sewing machines, scavenged treasures, and creative supplies beyond the imagination, the SELF Design Studio nurtures ideas and encourages the trial-and-error processes vital to breathing life into original ideas.
Fisher also engineers resilience in his students. He uses an approach nicknamed FAIL, which stands for “first attempt in learning.” Fisher coaches students on working through frustration.
“It’s easy to be hard on yourself and it’s easy for you to get beat up. I teach my students, there’s this little voice inside your head and the voice that tells you, ‘Oh, you suck. This is not going to work,’” he says. “What we do in class is we personify that voice. We give it a name and describe what it looks and sounds like. Then they practice rejecting it. When that negative voice comes in, it is much easier to silence it because they’ve identified it. It makes it easier to mess up, learn from it, and keep rolling.”
Wearable cardboard robots for all
More than two dozen UNCG students from varied disciplines are working on cardboard robots for this year’s parade. In addition, UNCG is partnering with four local schools – Ragsdale High School, Jackson Middle School, Guilford College, and Guilford Technical Community College — to create their own cardboard robot armadas for Saturday’s parade and effectively infuse creative engineering in those school communities.
UNCG students will be in the SELF Design studio on April 5 helping all who want to build their own cardboard robots on that day. There will be plenty of supplies to spark creativity and a healthy amount of good-natured guidance about how to FAIL.
“Bring your family and friends to the Cardboard Robot Factory,” says Fisher. “Build your own. Our students will be here to help with construction and then march in the parade with us.”
The parade of corrugated creatures will culminate in a Cardboard Robot Dance Party and raffle on the lawn in front of Jackson Library. The raffle will give away Cardboard Robot Parade t-shirts and posters, and one lucky winner will receive an original Matt Fisher-designed cardboard robot. The real winners will be the kids at Jackson Middle School: all raffle proceeds will go towards purchase of supplies for a cardboard construction station at their school.
“We’ve worked hard to make the Cardboard Robot Parade bigger and better this year,” says Fisher. “I can’t wait to see the joy it creates for all who come walk with us or watch the parade. The maximum amount of joy is what we’re going for.”
Story by Alice Manning Touchette
Photos by Sean Norona
