Kids’ Korner

Art Clubs are Fun!

Like it or not, the new school year is upon us again.  With that time comes plenty of opportunities to make new friends and have fun.  It is also a great time to start groups and clubs, and it might be fun to start an art club.  There are many different projects you could do as a group that are more fun than doing them alone.

Take a look in your back yard and see if there are any wooden furniture pieces that might need a coat of paint—perhaps an Adirondack chair, a small bench or even a picnic table—all are candidates for becoming art furniture!  Colors and patterns applied to wooden furniture not only give it new life, but also create a piece of useable art.  Wooden slats in chairs and tables can each be painted a bright crayon color or perhaps painted shades of your favorite blue, red, or purple.  Contrasting colors work very well together on yard art and really draw attention when guests come to visit.  Poll your friends and see what they think of a group “paint-in.” 

Group gardening is always fun.  Ask permission to “adopt” a flower bed at school and see if there might be funds to purchase some bright flowers in your school colors.  Get together with your friends and lay out a pattern that is cool and plant a school color bed.  Around the flag pole is a great place and one that everyone will notice.  Just imagine the impact a few flowers might make and you and your pals will have done it on your own.

Sponsor a neighborhood mailbox or front porch decorating contest.  Pick an upcoming holiday, like Halloween or Thanksgiving, and get everyone on your block to decorate their mailboxes or front porches. 

For real “art project” fun, create a drawing that contains simple shapes and enlarge it as much as is necessary for the group you have gathered.  One square foot per person is a good size.  Outline the shapes in black paint and then cut the drawing into 12 inch squares. (Number the back of each sheet so assembly is easy.)  Give each person a square and ask him/her to paint it in any colors and patterns he/she wants.  When all the squares are complete, reassemble the drawing.  You will be amazed at the remarkable results.  Patterns and colors of all types come together in a totally unexpected way for a great presentation.

A final group project is one that is done totally for fun and creativity.  Ask everyone to find an unusual piece of material from the trash (a found object), and then use that item as the basis for a piece of art.  Maybe a tin can or empty pop bottle will be turned into a new and interesting item.  Almost anything goes and you can have a lot of fun with this project. 

New Family Exhibition

Big, Small, at the Art Institute of Chicago through June 27, 2008, is an interactive exhibition where families can enjoy a selection of artworks that relate to size.  Learn how to turn a little drawing into a big one, create magical worlds in a box, and search for the smallest work of art in the museum’s collection.

Family Storytelling

The Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA, presents Family Storytelling on Saturdays through Sept. 1 (except August 4) at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.  Have you met Clara yet?  She’s history’s most beloved rhinoceros—her European tour took the continent by storm—and the star of Oudry’s Painted Menagerie, an exhibition of amazingly life-like animal portraits by French painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry.  Cheer and sing along with storyteller Victoria Burnett as she brings Clara’s incredible journey to life.  Free.  Sign up at the Museum Information Desk on the day of the program.

Picture Book Exhibition

Children Should Be Seen:  The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art is at the Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, through October 21. The exhibit presents original illustration art by 83 artists in a comprehensive survey of the best children’s book art of the last 10 years and focuses on the changing image of the child in picture books and thus in contemporary culture. Organized in conjunction with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 17 No. 10 — August 2007