All Classes

In this course, students explore the basic physical properties of clay by practicing a variety of hand-forming techniques used to create functional objects. Hand-forming techniques will include, pinch pots, slab building, mold slumping, and texture. The objective is not to make pieces to take home, rather learning what is possible and allowing you to get your hands dirty and feel what it's like! No previous experience in clay is needed for this class. (an introduction class is a prerequisite for instructional open studio)

This week our focus will be on the so-called Roaring 20's, a decade of dramatic social change and upheaval. We will make artworks inspired by Art Deco, early Expressionism, surrealism, the Harlem Renaissance, jazz, urbanization, and 1920's fashion trends. Just like the decade itself, our week will be filled with exploration, invention, and enthusiasm!

This week we will take much of our inspiration from the wide range of artists of the New Deal and WPA including Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Aaron Douglas, Rosa Rush, and Jacob Lawrence. Students will learn about the role art played in helping lift the United States out of the Great Depression and the wide spread legacy of these programs that remains visible to this day. Like the works of this era, our projects will spark the collective spirit of art making and celebrate belonging.

This week our artworks will be inspired by both the "high" art of Abstract Expressionism and the "low" art of a newly expanded post-war pop culture. One day we might have fun absorbing the influences of action painting (think Jackson Pollack) and color field painting (think Mark Rothko), and on another day make work related to the birth of rock and roll and artists like Sister Rosetta Tharpe who pioneered the movement.

In this week of art camp, students will learn about the aesthetic revolutions of Pop Art, Op Art, minimalism and performance art, as well as the social revolutions that inspired them. Our art projects will explore the still relevant influences of consumerism, mass production, and entertainment exemplified by Pop artists as well as provide an opportunity to play with graphic art, color, and repeated patterns.

In this week of art camp we will have fun creating artworks inspired by pioneering conceptual artists of the 1970's like On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, and Yoko Ono. We will also learn about Land Art, making our own temporary, collaborative, nature-based sculptures here at the center. Expect a week that, like the 70's, emphasizes experimentation, process, and free-thinking!