A few months ago I posted about Art After School, a unique weekly art program for kids ages 6-11 that took place at Comet Ping Pong in October/November 2011. That four-session “sneak peek” of the program proved to be a big success. Now, Art After School is primed and ready to go for an exciting, 8-class session this winter involving Valentines for monsters, mini water worlds, shadow machines, maps, mobiles, monuments and more.
Led by DC-based artist and creative camp director Marissa Long, Art After School is a fun and engaging, artistic after-school activity that stimulates imagination and prompts independent thinking. Rather than focusing on pre-prescribed or “how to” artistic activities, AAS invites youth of all skill levels and interests to imagine and create with a variety of accessible materials. This first 2012 series of Art After School is offered in partnership with award-winning Comet Ping Pong, who are recognized not only as one of Washington, DC’s most beloved restaurants, but also as one of its biggest supporters of art, music, and DC schools. Check out makeslashbelieve.blogspot.com for more information about previous and upcoming art programs led by Marissa.
The two-hour weekly classes of the winter session begin February 6 and will run through April 9 (except for the two Monday DCPS holidays), taking place in the back room at Comet Ping Pong located at 5037 Connecticut Avenue NW. The session costs $245. Space is limited, so register soon by emailing ArtAfterSchoolDC@gmail.com.
Here is the schedule for the upcoming session:
MONSTER VALENTINES / MONSTERS IN LOVE. Monday, February 13; 4 – 6pm
Viewing Valentine’s Day through the eyes of imaginary monsters and considering how these creatures’ ideas of beauty may differ from our own, youth will create valentines either for monsters, by monsters, or both.
— NO CLASS Monday, February 20; 4 – 6pm —
AQUARIACOSMS. Monday, February 27; 4 – 6pm
Using clear glass jars, wire, laminated drawings, food coloring, and other materials, youth will each create their own mini, underwater microcosms.
IMAGIN-ATLAS. Monday, March 5; 4 – 6pm
Youth will be asked to invent their own country or land, cutting out its shape, and filling it with drawings of the landscape, wildlife, people and resources it holds. They will also write some accompanying information describing these features, and will work together to create a collaborative map of their lands.
SHADOW MACHINES. Monday, March 12; 4 – 6pm
Youth will create small cut-paper arrangements that, when illuminated with a light source, will create compositions of shadows on the wall of a darkened space. The shadows will be the final product of their work, prompting the students to think about incorporating light into their art, and visual mediums beyond drawing and painting.
ART-IFACTS. Monday, March 19; 4 – 6pm
Youth will engrave designs and embed small objects into shaped pieces of self-hardening clay to create their own collection of fossils and artifact remnants – perhaps fossils that represent a personal history, or from an imaginary world or society. Images of real-life fossils, other artifacts, and archeological dig sites will be shared for inspiration, and youth will be asked to consider how to represent an object that has been weathered by time.
KALEIDOSCOPE SHAKERS / MOVING COLLAGES. Monday, March 26; 4 – 6pm
Filling clear, plastic boxes with cut pieces of paper, drawn and painted patterns and textures and other objects, youth will make interactive, “collaged” works of art that shift and change appearance each time they are moved or shaken.
THOUGHT-O-MOBILES. Monday, April 2; 4 – 6pm
Cut paper, cardboard, string and other materials will be used to create colorful, suspended mobile works of art.
TROPHIES AND MONUMENTS. Monday, April 9; 4 – 6pm
A monument to a beloved hamster, a trophy for a bowl of Lucky Charms, a medal for a good buddy…This class, we’ll discuss ideas about honoring and commemorating. Using various existing and fabricated objects, youth will create trophies and/or small monuments celebrating normally unacknowledged people, places, and things they appreciate.
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