Be A Part of the Arts!

I really enjoyed reading this article about the Arts as an important component of human psychology or, more importantly, the fundamental - almost basal - need to CREATE and imagine.

Think about it.

We require our creative thinking abilities everyday...in school...getting dressed...planning the week...making breakfast/lunch/dinner...at work...playing video games....We are creative everyday.

Like the article enumerates, during tough times, we crave self expression and entertainment.

We listen to music to free ourselves, to relax, to workout, to focus. We doodle - even if it's the 3D cube. We write, we journal, take pictures and play Scrabble and Chess. We like putting complementary colors and patterns together, well, almost. A specific memory comes to mind of my first self-dressing experience at age 3 (think stripes, polka-dots and a pink tutu).

Though artists and teachers of the Arts may not save the world (as this article indicates), they can save us by encouraging self expression and channeling our emotions, which can be quite healing. In the end, everyone needs a creative outlet.

Our Very Own Mural!

James T. Lynch Contracting and the Town of Reading asked us to paint a mural at the annual Street Fair!

The mural features, per request of the Economic Development Committee, prominent or historic buildings in Reading. For now, people will have to guess the buildings as, due to the strict sign laws, the clearly artistic mural cannot have words, less it be considered a sign. So, though the educational component is lost, people can, at least, admire our community's favorite haunts.

The mural was created by Dennis Hart, professional artist and visual arts instructor at Creative Arts.

We invited children to paint the mural at the Street Fair!

See if you can recognize the featured buildings!

We were surprised that so many children engaged in and enjoyed painting the mural! We still have detail and a little clean up painting to finish...but here's the end product:

The two panels will hang on Woburn Street (near Venetian Moon) until James T. Lynch Contractors finishes construction of their proposed office building.

Many thanks to James T. Lynch Contractors of N. Reading for making this possible! Thank you Economic Development Committee for helping us navigate the difficult sign laws and supporting us at the Street Fair! Thank you for supporting the Arts!

Don't Forget....

Can you believe school begins this week? My, how time flies!
This year will bring exciting new changes to Creative Arts and our programming.
New partnerships include EMARC, Burbank YMCA and Reading Recreation
New programming: Homeschool art program, playwriting class for children, pottery for Seniors, music programs for pre-schoolers and much, much more!
New events: Community Arts Festival & Holiday Concert
New instructors: Karl Orvik: Violin & Viola Instructor & Adam Schuler, Theatre Instructor

Stay tuned to see what's new!

In the meantime, don't forget these important dates:

 Our music semester begins September 7th!

Art and theatre programs begin Oct 4th!

Check out our new event: the Community Art Festival on Saturday, October 2 from 11am to 3pm.

The Community Arts Festival, organized by Creative Arts, celebrates Reading's cultural and arts community groups with performances, activities, art shows and information booths. Cool, huh?!

Looking forward to another year at Creative Arts!

Scenes from the Summer Musical, Annie

 I purposely crashed the dress rehearsal for our summer theatre camp's production of Annie. The cast performed well and, as in all dress rehearsals, fixed issues for the following big performances. I came away with many fantastic photos of our young actors at work.

As in all of our theatre productions, the cast was involved in every step of the production. Students helped make sets, costumes, props and programs for the full-length production - IN TWO WEEKS. I say this all the time; teamwork gets the job done. Everyone works hard but, more importantly, everyone has a lot of fun!

There's an ice cream social, pizza on performance days and a great cast party with Chinese food at the end; not to mention the hilarity of lunch hours!

So...On with the show! Here's a compilation slide show of the dress rehearsal!
Click on the link to see the show: http://animoto.com/play/6Oi0Yiac19UdKEmttG6ddQ

Masters & Mediums

In the art camp, Masters & Mediums, students used works of several artistic masters for inspiration. They learned about each artist and analyzed their work to create unique projects.

In one project, students explored figurative art studies by Henri Matisse.

 They looked at color, form, shape, function, composition, movement and balance to create figure sculptures of their own.

Notice the sculptures capture movement and incorporate vivid primary colors and lyrical human forms found in Matisse's work.

On to the next project!
Instructor, Nedret Andre, talked about portrait drawing, specifically the Mona Lisa. This was a favorite amongst the class as three students had the opportunity to view the actual Mona Lisa in the Louvre over vacation.

Students learned about light source, shading, chiaroscuro, facial proportions and how to incorporate unique character traits.

I think their portraits turned out wonderfully! I highlighted a few that (I felt) are exceptional.

Again, another great week! Students really pushed themselves and , in doing so, created fantastic artwork. Bravo!

Learning & Doing Art with the Mini Masters

Our summer Mini Masters programs cultivate and direct children's natural curiosity and imagination. Mini Masters programs are for children ages 3-6.

 Projects are largely hands-on because young children create best when building, shaping, molding, cutting, scraping and pasting. They are sensory motivated and need to experience each project using all 5 senses.

In People, Places and Things students learn about their world through art. Here, students use paiper mache to create sculptures using a favorite animal or person for inspiration.

 Then, they explored faces by drawing each other using different mediums of their choice.

And then made self portrait paper collages.

In another project, students read books about transportation. They learned about cars, planes, trains and bicycles; how they move and how they are driven. Then, students created roads with a city backdrop (because that's what it looks like when they drive with their families around town).

Students learned about landscapes by drawing their houses....

So much of art is derived from one person's interaction and perception of the world. It's no different for young children.

Satiating Creativity Cravings

Sharing more photos from our summer art program!

Students in Art Discoveries worked with different materials to make 2D and 3D projects. Here, students looked at Picasso's 3D cubist collage study of guitars.

 Then, using a violin for inspiration, students created their own 3D instrument collages.

Still under construction...immersed in the creative process.

Close up of violin "strings." (Our violin, cello and viola players are probably chuckling because the wires that vibrate and produce sound are called strings. We literally used strings for the sound producing wires in the violin collage project).

Behold a wall of finished violin collages and the real thing!