It’s a fabulous line up for our Saturday Family Arts Program! There’s something for the whole family with offerings by four of our talented local artists.

For children 5 & under: Painting with Plants with Hannah Ross

***Please note: children under the age of 3 must have a caregiver in the room with them. Children between the ages of 3-5 may attend with a caregiver on site, but who may be participating in our Adult Caregiver workshop.

A sensory exploration on watercolor paper using paints made from flowers and food scraps.  We will create works of art using homemade watercolors from non toxic plant pigments, kids will get to touch, feel and smell the materials that the colors are made from during the class. An introduction to the rainbow of colors that can be created from foods and flowers that we see everyday. 

For children ages 5-10(ish): Clay Play with Asia Sosnowski

Time to play with clay! Children will have the opportunity to dive into the soothing sensory world of clay, learning basic clay shaping techniques as they do so.

For youth ages 10 - 19 (ish): Mosaic Techniques Discovery with Christine Moss

Students will be led in a hands-on discovery of working with some different types of materials and tools used in mosaic making. 

We will begin with a lesson in the safe handling of stained glass, ceramic tiles and pottery shards and the different tools used in cutting the material into smaller pieces and different shapes. Small colorful pebbles, gemstones and sea shells will also be available for use. Books from my personal library will be available to look through and hand outs with mosaic information will be given. 

Students can then choose from a variety of materials for their palette of colors and textures to work from. A small wooden base, either a panel or picture frame/ or a large seashell, or a small terracotta pot can be chosen along with a small cup of thin set cement and an applicator. Once the thinset is applied to the base section by section, they can press the tiles into place. Using this method of application  for a one day workshop allows for the completion of a small project. 

We will talk about designs, what makes a good image choice for mosaics, patterns, how the background can make the subject pop out or disappear and how the direction in which tiles are placed affect the feeling of the piece. 

For adult caregivers: Capoeira Angola with Taganyahu Swaby

Capoeira Angola is an Afro-Brazilian martial art dance with a liberatory purpose and strong musical tradition at its core.  Capoeira Angola is a movement practice that facilitates play. The performing of it is called play and not dancing or fighting as it centers joy and reciprocal interaction through music. It is also an Afro-diasporic tradition that complements Africana studies, and can serve as an important home and refuge for all students and Afro-descended students in particular.  For some videos see here and here. 

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Of ice of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CREATE Council on the Arts.