This spring, Kentler is hosting our free, family Drawing Together programs on the first and third Saturdays of each month. These programs are now a part of our Brooklyn Community Foundation Challenge Grant and we are so thrilled about the response we've gotten so far. This year, over 60 children and caregivers from all over Brooklyn have shown up to make collaborative art projects based on Kentler's current show, The Influential Female: Drawings Inspired by Women in History. Teaching artists Meghan Keane and Ruth Wetzel have been taking turns leading these workshops and both have come up with some really exciting, hands-on activities.
On February 18th, Ruth had the group create bodily adornments inspired by the drawings of Anyssa Ng. Participants used poster board, ribbons, tape, glitter, rhinestones, and other materials to create unique, wearable art objects. Children (and parents!) crafted functional crowns, belts, shoes, sashes, and jewelry of their own design. Once finished, they marched around the gallery in a sparkly, colorful procession! Here are some photos of their creations:
Last Saturday, Meghan created an interesting project based on the qualities of hair--as a tool for mark-making and as a symbol of female identity. This project stems from the drawings of artist Jono Vaughan as well as Meghan's own hair-inspired artwork. She gathered up hair extensions in different textures and colors for participants to "draw" with, yielding some fun results! Parents and children were open to the experience as a new way to construct formal qualities of line, dimension and color. Their compositions were large, abstract and quite lively:
The next Drawing Together workshop will be held on Saturday, March 17th (St. Patrick's Day). If you and your family are interested in attending, please contact Sallie@kentlergallery.org with your name, child's name/age, and contact information to reserve your spot in advance.We hope to see you soon!
