Abstract Mixed Media
Kendra Wadsworth, Artist and Educator
Looking to the "father of modern art," Wassily Kandinsky, and comparing him to 21st-century artists Julie Mehretu, and "Stadia III,” students explore lyrical expression and measured marks as they apply to abstract art. Using a variety of traditional and nontraditional materials as well as a mini-psychological profile and music, students create large-scale works of geometric and organic origin.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 15 participants
Clay Animation Moviemakers
Abigail McKenzie, Chairman of Art Department, Flint Hill School
Andrew Morgan, Filmmaker, Washington D.C.
This workshop is for anyone who has ever wanted to make a movie! Students learn the steps used by the pros to go from character creation to construction — and sometimes destruction. Using real animator's clay, students sculpt original characters, design sets, and work together in small groups to make a three-minute animated movie with sound character voices. Who says a movie can't be made in a day?
Audience: Recommended for 5th grade – 12th grade, adaptable for adults
Enrollment: 5 – 20 participants
A one-hour optional lecture is offered to the community and workshop participants. The lecture begins with a short tape of student animation, including footage of a workshop. There is also a demonstration of character construction, set building, and different techniques of animation. Audience members have the opportunity to participate in these steps with a short video is produced. The basic processes of clay animation are discussed and demonstrated, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Combining Image & Text New
Kris Iden, Artist
Explore the use of literature as a catalyst for visual art-making. Beginning with a brief discussion and examples, this workshop guides participants in creating two-dimensional work, inspired by a personally meaningful piece of writing, in drawing, printmaking or mixed media.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 12 participants
Facilities needed: Pre-covered worktables
Foodles: An Artist’s Approach to Edible Art New
Megan Liles, Youth and Family Coordinator, VMFA
The concept is deliciously simple – "Foodles" are doodles drawn on food. Of course, the idea may seem like nothing other than a cute craft project but there’s more than meets the eye of a potato! Learn how Foodles from the Daily Doodle Diet relate to fine arts, education, health, and well-being. Included in the workshop is an overview of food related works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ collections.
Audience: Middle school through adult
Enrollment: 15 participants
Forming the Composition: An Elements & Principles Primer New
Kris Iden, Artist
Don’t know what to do with all of that color, line, shape, space and texture? Art making can be thought of sometimes as a dance between planning or deliberate decision-making and "just letting things happen." Having a full understanding of how the elements of art function is an asset to working intuitively and fosters a more engaged and satisfying creative process. The workshop begins with a discussion, review, and visual examples followed by a guided collage project that emphasizes the basic vocabulary of form and elements of design. This course is designed for students of all disciplines and aims to provide a refreshed and engaged perspective on creative activity.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 12 participants
Facilities needed: Pre-covered worktables, electrical outlets, non-carpeted floor
Looking at Our Lives, A Tile Mural Workshop
Beryl Solla, Chairman of Art Department, Piedmont Virginia Community College
In the venerable tradition of landscape, farm, and animal paintings that are featured prominently in the Mellon collection, artist Beryl Solla encourages students to think about the people and things that give their own lives meaning and value. Students identify common ideas and develop images that best represent them. Using broken tile and quick-setting thin set, students design and install a small broken tile mural (approx. 3' x 4') in their school or community center. The installation includes designing the mural, drawing it on the wall, breaking the tile (using protective glasses), and placing the tile on the wall. The tile is then grouted and cleaned. A highly decorative and imaginative frame (also made from broken tile) that reflects the aesthetics of the Mellon collection and supports their own concepts surrounds the image(s). The mural is permanent, beautiful, and maintenance-free.
Audience: Middle school through adult
Enrollment: 10 – 20 participants
Mobile Glass Studio
Ryan Gothrup, Adjunct Professor of Glass, Tidewater Community College
Share the unique experience of glass blowing — even add an educational component to exhibitions —with this mobile hot-glass studio, created by artist Ryan Gothrup. This studio can be used for lectures, demonstrations, workshops, or multiple-day residencies.
Due to the special nature of this workshop, please contact Jeffrey Allison, Paul Mellon Collection Educator and Statewide Programs Coordinator for more information on additional fees and site requirements.
Audience: Middle school through adult
Enrollment: 15
That's Me!: Portraits
Fenella Belle, Instructor of Art, Piedmont Virginia Community College
Who are you? What are the important ideas and symbols that express your wishes, dreams, and everyday life? From Ancient Egypt to modern times, man has used art to record his identity through portraits, self-portraits, and symbols. In this workshop, students use a mixed-media approach, including monoprint, chine colle, collage, and stamping, to construct a self-portrait that captures their identity and puts it on display. No drawing experience necessary!
Audience: Middle school through adult
Enrollment: Maximum of 15
Facilities needed: Nearby sink with hot water, tables that can be covered, no carpets
Symbols of the Self: Portraits
Rachel Sawan White, Art and Design Faculty, Orchard House School
A self-portrait can be a moving and enlightening process. In this workshop, students create a whole new kind of self-portrait, one in which they use symbols, colors, and other elements to tell who we are — without faces. Different ways of defining oneself through lines, textures, colors, and materials are discussed, and a variety of media is available so each artist can paint or sculpt the image.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 8 participants
The Mixing of Media: Painting with Things New
Rachel Sawan White, Art and Design Faculty, Orchard House School
Join us as we spend the day exploring the art of mixed media. We’ll use paints, pastels, charcoals, collage, found objects – whatever inspires! Using a wooden panel as a base, participants will have access to all kinds of materials and tools as well as an overview of techniques. Participants are encouraged to come with any additional supplies they find encouraging!
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 12 participants
Visual Pull of the Canvas: Three Layers of Glass to Create a Painting
Sayaka Suzuki, Adjunct Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University
Department of Craft/Material Studies
This course will introduce everyone to glass making with a twist, a contemporary approach to a material and new way of thinking about the tradition of “painting” and “glass art.” Through the use of a cutter and grinder, glass will be transformed into different shapes and high- temperature enamel will be used as a painting material to transform the glass into a canvas of overlapping imagery.
All students will work with three layers of glass, each layer representing different techniques to create a visual sense of depth. Each layer can represent a foreground, middle ground, and a background, or more abstractly speaking, a visual tunnel into the final layer of glass. The glass will be enhanced through image transfers, etching, engraving, enamels, and adhesives. At the end of the session, students will have an opportunity to engrave their signatures with a diamond-tipped tool. With all the techniques and equipment available to students, they will have an original work that pushes the boundaries of glassworking and painting by the end of the session.
Great for everyone, this class gives students an opportunity to work with glass as a canvas as well as a material that can be pushed to change shape and be worked more sculpturally.
For this class, please come with at least ONE simple 6” x 6” LINE drawing that you find inspiring and with which you'd like to work.
Audience: High school through adult
Enrollment: 5 – 12 participants