K.I.D.S. Art Ed After School brings Dean Haspiel to The Red Hook Community Justice Center

This week students participating in K.I.D.S. Art Ed after school programs with Good Shepherds Services and Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) gathered for Career Day at RHCJC to hear graphic novelist Dean Haspiel talk about his career as a cartoonist.  The students have been exploring Dean's work on view at K.I.D.S. in "Cuba: My Revolution-The Making of the Graphic Novel and Related Drawings." Their explorations have included a visit to the exhibition and art making sessions with our teaching artists.

Teaching artist Katherine Gressel and RHCJC students exploring "Cuba: My Revolution" at Kentler.

During the gallery visit students explored the content of the artwork through discussion and hands-on art activities.  In their follow up art making sessions, students are learning about symbols, figure drawing, layout, drafting, and composition to created their own original comic-inspired artworks.  Our goals in these workshops are for young people to have a positive experience making art, to feel more confident expressing themselves, and to have a better sense of what goes into being an artist both personally but also professionally.  Since the workshops are mostly focused on art making, we decided to invite Dean Haspiel to talk to the students about the more professional side of being a cartoonist.

Dean's talk took the students through his development from when he got his first drawing gig to the present.

Dean's slideshow.

One on one with the kids.  Great questions.  Great answers.

Forthcoming about the good and the bad, Dean described his passion for drawing and stories and his desire to develop his own ideas along with his need to make money and take on jobs that weren't always feeding his soul.  When a student asked about how one could "get started," Dean's advice was this (I paraphrase): Find other people who like to do what you do. Hang out with them, talk, share ideas and challenge each other.  If you like someone else's work, talk about THEIR work (not just your own) to others.  In other words, help each other out, support each other! Don't get upset if a buddy gets a gig you were hoping for.  Remember that they got hired because their work looks the way the employer wants.  When you get hired, it will be because of YOUR "look" and your look alone.  Dean reminded the students, "Don't be shy to be who you are."  Thank you, Dean!

Drawing Together Family Workshop (11/13)

Inspired by the characters in the Kentler's CUBA: MY REVOLUTION exhibition, families worked together to create their own character drawings.



Using cut and torn pieces of thin cardboard, kids and parents designed the portrait of their imaginary character. After designing, they glued the cardboard down to their large piece of posterboard. This not only made a unique drawing, but created the perfect low-relief surface for a rubbing! This technique of "drawing with cardboard," or other papers or fibers, is called "collagraph" meaning glued, or collaged, print [colle = glue in French].

Next, families used paper with winter designs on it to create a rubbing with dark cray-pas. We were all excited to work at such a large scale and to see the differences between the two characters! Everyone got to leave with not just one giant drawing, but two! And students can make more rubbings of their drawings for their friends after -- or are well-poised to explore other collagraph ideas!


This DT Workshop was led by Kentler K.I.D.S. teaching artist, Meghan Keane.






View all photos from this Drawing Together workshop here

We look forward to seeing you at the December 18 DRAWING TOGETHER workshop, led by teaching artist Ruth Wetzel.

Email K.I.D.S. Director, Mollie McQuarrie, to reserve a place for you and your child: omcquarrieo@gmail.com
Spaces are limited so reservations are suggested.

Art Ed at "From Studio to Classroom"

Mollie McQuarrie will be Guest Blogger at "From Studio to Classroom" this month!  Check it out.

"Cuba: My Revolution" inspiring student explorations of characters

Here is a link to some photos from our first Art Ed classes that came to see
the show Tuesday.  In the morning we had a first grade class and in the
afternoon a 5th grade class.

http://www.kentlergallery.org/pages/_KIDS%20_ArtEd/KIDS_Cuba.html

Kentler/RHI After School Artmaking Adventures Continue

As mentioned in my first blog post, students participating in the current K.I.D.S. + RHI after school program are exploring color and texture to create a mood. Inspired by the Kentler exhibition of work by installation artist Ilene Sunshine
the students are exploring the idea of creating art  that is both TEMPORARY and SITE SPECIFIC. Our final after school project will involve creating an installation. Students will work in the BCS classroom using all the drawings made over the course of the seven week session. They will wrap two tables, Christo-and-Jean-Claude-style, with their drawings that explore mood. One table will be positive moods (happy, excited, vibrant) and the other will explore negative moods (sad, disappointed, somber).
We will see if our audience can tell that we are using color differently in each table!

Check out a great video about the installation works by Ilene Sunshine and Mary Ting here that are inspiring our after school project!

Check out Wikipedia's definition of installation art here.

Until next time,

Meghan
Teaching Artist, K.I.D.S. After School

Drawing Together: Site Specific Installations

Last spring, K.I.D.S. Art Education teaching artist Ruth Wetzel led local children and family members in an art making exploration at the Kentler International Drawing Space. In response to the installations of Mary Ting and Ilene Sunshine, participants created their own installations. After examining the work in the gallery through inquiry and observational drawing, partners worked with post-its, twigs, ribbons, tape, toilet paper rolls, pencils, Styrofoam meat trays, oval-cut mats, and phone cords to change the materials and then arrange them in an assigned section of the room. These site specific installations were terrific displays of collaboration and imagination and were poetic reflections on materials, the space and the artwork by Ilene Sunshine and Mary Ting that was already occupying the space.  Everyone had a great time!

Pictures Come To Life! This Saturday at 3 PM!

Artist/storyteller Jeff Hopkins will be transforming our blank white walls into a story-mural that you and your family will participate in.  Its going to be fun- don't miss it!!

If you DO miss it, please join us next weekend for a follow up DRAWING TOGETHER workshop with Jeff.

Please NOTE: the performance on Saturday, September 11th does not require a reservation but the follow up workshop NEXT weekend does.  See below for details.

For more information on Jeff Hopkins: http://www.picturescometolife.com/