HUB-BUB SHOW!

The invatations have been sent and all the artwork is framed and ready to be hung on Monday! I will be helping Angie Shuman (our director) and many other instructors and SAM employees hang all of the work on Monday morning. We are all excited to see the show installed.

All of the students and their families are so excited for the show at HUB-BUB on Tuesday. There will be art, conversation, and refreshments at the reception on Tuesday from 5 until 7! The exhibition will remain on display all week so that it can be viewed during the art walk on Thursday. I cannot wait to see all of the student's smiling faces as the see their work professionally displayed!

Yarn Flowers Lesson



I found a fun activity for the students to work on for spring! We have an extensive amount of colored embroidery thread and yarn that would be great for making pom-pom yarn flowers. It is an easy and fun activity that the students will enjoy. 



The first step is to losely wrap a significant amount of yarn
around your fingers. Then carefully slip the yarn
off and place on top of a 6 inch piece of yarn.

Next, tie the 6inch piece of yarn tightly around
your bundle and knot. Then, cut through
 the loops to make the pom-pom.

The final step is to attach the pom pom

 to a stick or pipe cleaner.

Art Show

This week we are preparing for the upcoming art show at HUB-BUB! I haven't had much of a chance to work with the kids, as I have been working more on administrative side, helping Angie get the show organized. I need to make sure that every piece of work that is entered in the show has the correct paper work and contact information sheet with it. This is so we can get the work back to the students as soon as the show it over! I also need to frame and/or mat each piece, as well as make display cards for each piece. The display cards will have the student's name, the student's age, the title of their work, and what cite they visit (the Chapman Center, Boiling Springs, TK Gregg, or Carver). This will help viewers see the range of students we get to work with! The opening reception will be Tuesday April 26th from 5-7! I hope to see a great turnout (I will post pictures the day after!)

Music in the Studio

Today was a rare day at the studio and we only had one student. It was sad to have the opportunity not see all of our regular Monday artists, but it allowed the other instructors, and myself, to get to know the one student who did come. He did not have the pressure of a crowded studio, or peer pressure to hold back his true personality. The student, Maddox, loves to sing in his free time when he is not drawing. He has taken private singing lessons in the past and told us about his plans to sing in the school chorus once he gets to middle school (he is only 7 years old). We were excited to learn that his previous performance in the Christmas show at school is on Youtube.com, and we were all anxious to get home and view the video, but he didn't make us wait until we got home. The normal shy boy decided to give us a "free concert," as he put it. To be only seven years old, he is truly talents at art and music. Coming from a chorus background, I can tell that he has had a lot of training. The young student stayed within the same key with every song he sang for us. He also added his own personality and began 'performing' for us (while still working on his drawing). It was a very enjoyable and musical day in the studio!

Instructor Toddrick continues to Inspire!


The students are always excited to work with Mr. Toddrick. He has such a great attitude that he inspires me to become a better, more postitve teacher. He also inspire the students! He is a very talented artist and helps the students by giving them helpful tips to become better at drawing. Words cannot decribe how excited the students get after seeing Toddrick's work. They think he is "the best drawer ever!" In the everyday classroom, it is good to show examples to inspire the students and give them ideas. Since there is not many structured lessons at COLORS Toddrick's personal work serves as inspiration for the students.

the picture Toddrick used as a reference



Toddricks drawing using Prismacolors



Youth Art Month

Art education is very important to the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg and the CCC. SAM and the CCC help bring art (broth visual and performance) to studensts through art classes at the Spartanburg Art Museum's art school, COLORS, the dance studios, and the partnerships with schools in the Spartanburg area. Each month, there is going to be a free student art exhibition at the CCC; it will usually be from a specific school district. During the month of March, there has been work displayed from every school in Spartanburg County, as well as private schools and home schools. The shows will be sponsored by SunTrust bank and we are very thankful that they can help make this happen! I can't wait to share updates on upcoming shows featuring Spartanburg's students! 

The banner for the exhibitions features real studnet work!



All Clean For Spring!

Unfortunately we were not very busy during spring break, but that left a lot of time for cleaning and organizing! Another instructor, Amy, and myself organized what we call the "junk" closet. It was so messy that we had no idea how many great supplies were hidden away in there! It is now organized and we found a lot of supplies that we can use in many upcoming lessons.




the "junk" closet is finally
clean and organized!



All the trash from the "junk" closet!!

We also used this slow time to turn the plain window into an display for all to see from East St. John Street!

We have had the students that did come this week help us make different art supplies out of paper. We used these to decorate the window and create a festive, 'springy' display.