Exhibiting Our Student's Art Work

First semester visual art classes finished last week. Har-rah!

Instructors, Jamie McDonough, Kirsten Brown, Lesley King and Dennis Hart had a great semester and hope their students did, too. Our instructors created challenging projects for students to learn artistic and design principles.

Instructors introduced basic art history concepts to teach art appreciation "how to look at art" along with informal critiques by students to talk about their work. The semester ended with an exhibition of select artwork, another important component of the art experience.

Whenever you look at artwork, first describe only what you see (colors, shapes, media used, what the subject is, etc.). Then analyze the artwork or notice relationships between things. Interpret what you think the artwork means and, finally, make a judgment about your relationship with the artwork. For example, How did the artist involve you? What changes would you make? Does the artwork communicate major ideas or feelings?

Have fun practicing viewing art with our student's work!

click on pictures for greater detail

From Clay Mania! Ages 4-7

From Drawing 101 Ages 4-6

Self portrait in progress from Painting 101 ages 7-9

Family Portrait

Action poses sculpted by students in Mixed-Bag Media Ages 10-13

From Manga: Art of Japanese Illustration Ages 8-11

Manga Illustration for Teens, Ages 12-18

Our adult classes also exhibit work!

Wheel Throwing Basics

Drawing & Painting Studio

Thank you for participating in our student art show!

Holiday Wishing Tree is here!

Once again we put up a Wishing Tree in the Sanborn Street lobby. Inspired by Yoko Ono's 1996 'Wish Tree', this is a great way to encourage the Creative Arts community to work together on a project.

Students, faculty and staff share their wishes for the year for all to read. Some ask for presents and some ask for health & good cheer but all participate! We added our own wishes, too!

If you haven't attached your wish - I encourage you to participate!

We also received one very important wish this fall:

...two outdoor signs!

Performances, Performances, Performances!

Wow. The first week of December was jam-packed with performance opportunities!

Thursday, Dec 3: Shop the Block

Our music students acted as roving street musicians performing in local stores participating in this year's Shop the Block. Proceeds from raffle prizes will be donated to Creative Arts! Thank you!

Friday, Dec 4: Student Performance Night & Art Show

We hold monthly performance opportunities for our music and theatre students. This year, the December performance night also served as an art show for students in visual art classes to display their hard work. Here are a few examples (to enlarge, click on the photos):

From Manga Illustration for Teens

Artwork from Drawing 101 (Ages 4-6) & Painting 101 (Ages 7-9)

Clay Mania (Ages 4-7)

Saturday, Dec 5: Festival of Trees

Our donated tree won "Most Unusual." We had a bright red tensile tree with art, music and theatre ornaments complete with gift bags and certificates.

Sunday, Dec 6: Parker Tavern Open House

A few music students, along with Reading's Girl Scout Troops, provided inspiring music for the day. The snow put all visitors in the mood for the holidays! For those that are not familiar with the Parker Tavern, it is Reading's oldest building circa mid 1600's. For more information, visit the Parker Tavern or contact the Reading Antiquarian Society, http://parkertavern.org/.

Thank you to everyone who performed and contributed to a fantastic week!

Creative Arts Faculty Performances

I thought to share a few of our music faculty performing outside Creative Arts:

Joe Beninati, Traditional Piano Instructor also play accompaniment for the Reading Community Singers...see him at the piano?

Judy Braude, Traditional & Suzuki Flute Instructor

Todd Brunel, Traditional Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor

Mark Dante Troiano, Contemporary Guitar & Vocal Instructor

Brent Erstad, Traditional Piano Instructor (playing the harpsichord in the background)

Clay Time for adults, teen and kids!

Clay is a wonderful medium! There is great pleasure in squashing, pounding, rolling, pinching, shaping and molding something - transforming a lump of clay into unique sculptures or functional pottery.
Whether learning to hand build or throwing on the wheel, working with clay is extremely relaxing for all ages.

Below is a sample of tiles created in our Clay Builders class for ages 7-12. Students hand-rolled and shaped the clay before imprinting with different textures and designs.This is a sample of our teen and adult pottery wheel throwing class.

Examples of work from the Clay Mania! class for ages 4-7. Students rolled out clay tiles, then imprinted designs using fresh, fallen fall leaves!

A view of the pottery area in our art room. Notice the wheel organization!

Our adult drawing and painting studio even uses student pottery creations in still life assignments!

These are merely samples of assignments used to teach students how to shape and mould a boring lump of clay into something unique and inspired.

For Your Information...

We made a few changes...check them out the next time you find yourself roaming our hallways.

We re-organized the office...

...opening up our space......to better serve you...we added another room schedule board @ parking lot entrance...

...and continue to update the Sanborn Entrance bulletin board and room schedule.

The schedule boards provide a daily listing of classes, instructors and room assignments. Always check the schedule boards to find your lesson or class location! Sometimes we have to switch rooms - how else would you know where to go?!

New Additions to Creative Arts Faculty

We are very excited and pleased to welcome new additions to our music and theatre faculty!

Danny Bolton, Theatre Instructor

Danny Bolton, veteran actor, playwright, director, and teacher will bring his enthusiastic, positive energy to inspire young playwrights and actors at Creative Arts. He comments, “I stress the dramatic process and lead my students to bring words from the page to the stage…incorporating an understanding of stagecraft, theatrical genre and style.” Not to mention he has directed over 30 plays and musicals and acted in many more. Danny is a wonderful addition to our theatre faculty!

Veronica Dicker, Traditional Violin and Viola Instructor
Check her out:
or cut and paste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRWTIe

Veronica will teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jenna Potts, Suzuki Violin Instructor
Jenna will teach on Wednesdays.
Check her Out:
Or cut and paste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxlE86Esfzk

Welcome Aboard!

Student Performance Nights

Once per month Creative Arts hosts a performance night where music and theatre students perform current pieces.
Part of our music and theatre education curriculum involves participation in regular performance opportunities. This gives students a goal to reach, encourages self-discipline, teaches 'performance ready' and concert etiquette. It also teaches students how to deal with nerves and to 'forge on' when mistakes are made. Plus, the post-concert receptions offer fantastic opportunities to meet our faculty, staff, other families and students...and eat something yummy, too!

Oct 16th was our first performance night. Please enjoy the following clip of a piano student performing!

Our Next Student Performance Night: Friday, November 6 @ 7pm.
See you there!
Performance nights are always free and open to the public!

The Art Advantage

New physiological and behavioral research indicates exposure to and practice the the arts has significant, positive and long term effects on brain development and social literacy.

Training in visual arts, music and theatre not only improves higher cognitive functions but represents a different way of thinking and experiencing life.

It's fun. It's a source of curiosity, pleasure and admiration. It's pleasing to the senses where students, young and old, learn by touching, hearing and seeing.

Most importantly, cognitive improvements develop over time through consistent and prolonged practice in the arts.

Why does visual arts matter?

Why learn to draw, paint, sculpt or appreciate artwork?

As it turns out, practice in and exposure to visual arts not only stimulates different parts of the brain but also expands higher cognitive functions like

• Processing mathematical spatial relationships (hello, geometry!)
• Understanding abstract principles
• hand-eye coordination
• Dexterity and muscle development
• Confidence
• Self expression
• Communication skills
• Increased focus and attention
• Problem solving and critical thinking skills
  

Many students find the process of creating art calming and relaxing.

Practice in visual arts uses higher-order thinking skills (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) using simple or complex symbols to communicate.

Therefore, exposure to and practice in creating art is developmentally important to children and adults by providing advantages in other subjects and life experiences.

Summer Theatre Camp Experience

Summers at Creative Arts are very busy! We host a different art and theatre program every week to offer unique variety and opportunity for many students to participate.

To highlight our theatre programs....
In our full-day, week-long theatre camps, students learn play production by literally producing a play or musical every week. Students audition for a role, memorize lines and songs, make costumes, props, sets, and manage set changes for a play or musical. It's amazing to watch the final production knowing students put it together in 5 days.

Angela Merrill, our Theatre Director, acts as the production's director. She challenges each student to accomplish this large task by teaching responsibility and self-accountability.

During the week, students work on group collaboration and team work (taking direction, lead, learning to support and trust others ), memorization and recall skills, reading comprehension, creative problem solving and public speaking skills (vocalization, articulation, timing).

Our summer programs invite a wide age range to participate allowing students to work together in a diverse group. We invite every student willing to work hard and have fun to participate!

If you desire to boost your child's self confidence, group collaboration and communication skills, enroll them in an acting program at Creative Arts! They are guaranteed to have fun!