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Two years after it was started, the much-anticipated Million Bead Project arrived at the Prichard Art Gallery on Friday. Artist Jeanne Leffingwell may have reached her goal of weaving one million beads, but this venture is far from finished.
Leffingwell began her project with a mission to visually demonstratewhat such a large number would look like.
She was able to finish the two-year-long project just last week with help of several volunteers and collaboration with local students.
 Bruce Mann/Argonaut More than a million beads hang on the walls of the Prichard Art Gallery as part of Jeanne Leffingwell's
Sales of selected panels of beads will go toward a cultural exchange residency that Leffingwell and others will take on this June.
With her assistants, Leffingwell will lead a team of Moscow High School students to teach beading to students at Tenochtitlan Primary School in Tomatlan, Mexico.
Ashley Rodriguez, a senior exchange student from Mexico, stayed with Leffingwell last winter and helped with the project.
Her father is a principal at the school in Tomatlan, and before Rodriguez’s return, Leffingwell sent a note with her proposal to teach beading in Mexico.
Leffingwell and her team of beaders will keep busy teaching fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders at the elementary school by day, and parents and community members by night.
“This is not a vacation for our kids,” she said.
Leffingwell hopes to complete a panel to bring back to Moscow.
“If it works out, then we’ll actually put it together and hopefully have a panel to display,” she said. “There are more things that will appear.”
Leffingwell is currently working on a book to tell the story of her first Million Bead Project.
She would love to work as a consultant for other groups who are inspired by her work.
“I need a break from doing one million (beads), but I would love to see it done,” Leffingwell said.
Prichard Art Gallery Roger Rowley expressed his support for the project, and hopes it will become a commercial venture.
“On one hand, it’s everything I imagined,” he said. “And on the other hand, it’s more.”
Rowley said what amazes him about this exhibit is that not only is it a children’s project, but others can relate to it on a larger scale.
“It’s an art piece that could be shown in any art museum,” he said. “What they did here is amazing.”
Rowley said the project not only represents one million, but the difference among individuals.
From cultural icons like smiley faces, Pac-Man and religious symbols, the project could relate to different viewers.
“It’s of its time,” Rowley said. “It’s really a lot of different things that link to society.”
Since the project demonstrates the community’s outreach to help with the project, Rowley said one goal is to exhibit the project locally before returning the panels to the schools of the students who participated.
“The Prichard is an outreach to the community — it’s hard to imagine a better example (than this),” Rowley said.
Anra Rowley, a fourth grader at McDonald Elementary beaded a portion for the panel.
“I had lots of fun,” she said. “I think (the project) is really cool.”
Working on the project made her want to work with beads more, she said.
David Graham, an art teacher at Moscow Junior High, volunteered his room, time and three of his art classes to participate in the project.
Graham said after seeing a potential mock-up of how big the project would be and how many students and school districts it would reach, the students realized how much of a community effort it was.
“It helped disguise what their art would look like because their piece wouldn’t be an individual product, but a part of a big, huge thing,” Graham said.
On a larger scale, another goal is to promote and tour the project through other cities like Seattle or Boise.
“We hope to go big,” Rowley said.
Moscow resident Ellen Potratz said the project provided an incredible perspective.
“It’s a marvelous project to combine art and math, and to do something really significant,” Potratz said.
Including pieces done by other artists, the 29 mirrored panels contain exactly 1,112,711 beads.
“2,500 people (contributed), and only a couple were trained artists,” Leffingwell said.
Although Leffingwell was afraid she wouldn’t make the million-bead goal, the collaboration with others and the help of several volunteers helped her dream become a reality.
“”It’s the biggest collaboration I’ve ever done,” Leffingwell said. “The reward of getting to do it (and see it) is thrilling.”
The Million Bead Project is on display at the Prichard Art Gallery until July 21.
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