FALL HIGHLIGHTS & COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Please note:  Instead of requiring participants to purchase supplies for visual arts classes this year, visual arts participants will pay a $30 supplies fee.  This fee applies to all painting, photography, and printmaking workshops.  We hope this change will be more economical and convenient for our visual arts participants.  More information is available here under the "Fees" section.

* = Workshop full; please select a different workshop.

Weekend One: October 21 – 24, 2010

*The Abiding Image: An Invitation to Poetry with Cathy Smith Bowers

This workshop is for anyone who longs to articulate thought, experience, and emotion in poetic form. This workshop will also be helpful to anyone teaching the reading or the writing of poetry. During this workshop, we will explore a variety of ways to tap into abiding images from our own experience and to expand and craft those images into vibrant and moving poems. We will also explore the finer points of a variety of poetic concerns, including metaphor, tension, sound, and fixed forms. Open to all ability levels and great for English, language arts, reading, gifted/talented, and K-12 educators.

Folk Dancing with Martha Riley

Come join us as we enjoy traditional folk dances and play parties from America, the British Isles, and various countries around the world! Students will learn dances in sets, circles, squares, contra lines, and double circles. Dance teaching techniques and sequencing will be discussed, as well as the history, culture, and style of the dances. Choosing partners, getting into formation smoothly, and teaching strategies that promote maximum musical development will all be covered. Ideas for adapting dances for performance will be explored. Students will practice “calling” and have an opportunity to team-teach a dance to the class. Open to all ability levels and great for P.E., social studies, gifted/talented, and K-12 educators.

*Painting on a Grand Scale with Robert Rahway Zakanitch

Join us for an intense painting workshop that will teach you not only how to paint, but how to think and see from an artist’s perspective. Learn to train your eyes to translate a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional plane. Learn about the realms of realism and abstraction and the areas in between. This workshop will focus on painting small objects on a very large scale. When a small object is enlarged to a huge scale, the object becomes something else entirely, and the artist can become more involved with the paint and the surface of the image. Zakanitch is renowned for his large-scale paintings, and his experimentation with scale has been described as of his greatest contributions to the field of painting. This workshop is open to all ability levels, but some experience with painting is preferred.

*Intaglio Printing: the Language and Practice of Etching with Emily Arthur Douglass

The rich language and obscure tradition used in etching can often be mysterious or even intimidating for artist-printmakers. This intaglio printing workshop will cover both beginning and advanced print techniques to give students the confidence to work independently. This workshop will present line etching, aquatint, multiple plate registration, chine collée, and pochoir. Students will also experiment with multiple viscosity color inking as we work towards the success of each student print edition. No previous print experience necessary. Painting and/or drawing experience preferred.

*The Documentary Lens:  Incorporating Photography Into Your Everyday Life Through Visual Journaling and Storytelling with Paul Taggart

Learn how to use your camera as a tool to creatively interpret reality through a documentary aesthetic. You'll learn the basics of creating a photo essay through shooting and editing. The majority of the class will be focused on becoming comfortable with your camera while shooting the world around you, as well as using your tools to journal your life. We will learn to have a critical eye when looking at photography and a compassion for those we are photographing. Through critique and casual class discussion, you'll begin to feel an authorship and identity to your own style and work. Field trips and portrait assignments will be included in the course to help you feel more confident in photographing people. Students of all levels are welcome, but a strong desire and passion for the image is a must! Participants must bring a digital camera.

Weekend Two: October 28 – 31, 2010

*Drumming for Fun and Spirit with John K. Galm

This workshop is an exciting adventure into the world of hand drumming, with all musical instruments provided.  The drum is one of the few musical instruments that can be played by touching a vibrating surface -- everyone can easily sound a drum simply by touch. In our workshop, we will explore the natural rhythms of the body (breathing, heartbeat activity/rest cycles) and translate them into drumming patterns. Then we will expand these explorations to the rhythms of wind in the trees, the sounds of water, and other natural sounds. We will also explore common rhythmic patterns that are used in dance and song and discover how they are derived from these eternal rhythms. The care of hands and bodies will be presented, as well as how to care for the drums to preserve their most musical sounds. Playful expressions of "musiking" will be presented so that they may be used in elementary music classes. The concepts of drum circles will be created by using our own unique styles and improvisations. A natural extension to movement and sounding will also evolve from this workshop experience.  The level of instruction is presented to participants with little or no formal musical training, as well as musicians who wish to expand their musical talents.  This workshop is great for general music, choral music, gifted/talented, and K-12 educators.

*Experimental Techniques in Watercolor with Jan Heaton

Join us for a hands-on painting workshop for curious artists with minimal watercolor experience. We will debunk the age-old preconception of watercolor being a difficult and tedious medium. The course will explore experimental applications of pigment on 300 # weight cotton paper. Departing from the classic techniques of watercolor, the class will be painting and drawing with found object tools. Brushes will be made available but will be supplemented with chopsticks, dishtowels, coffee stirrers, wine corks, sticks, sponges, fruit slices, etc.…..the possibilities are endless. Focusing on form, movement, composition, and line, the group will explore various watercolor techniques and learn new approaches to painting through demonstrations and individual experimentation. This workshop celebrates the joy of painting and encourages self-expression. Open to all ability levels.

*Digital Photography: Re-configuring Nature with Susan kae Grant

Using nature as inspiration, this workshop offers an intuitive approach to the creation of simple accordion books incorporating digital images and text created at the workshop. Classes include field shooting, guided meditations, and written exercises designed to elicit creative insights. Participants divide their time between outdoor shooting and image processing and printing to produce a simple digital book of their own. Class sessions address issues related to content, design, materials, and sources needed for production of accordion books. Special techniques address image creation, simple page layout, image printing, and eco-friendly image transfer methods. Slide presentations and a collection of original works demonstrate the enormous variety of issues, methods, and materials used by artists to construct accordion photo books. Students should have a basic understanding of using a digital SLR camera and Adobe Photoshop for image processing.  Participants must bring a digital camera.  A digital SLR camera is preferred, but digital point-and-shoot cameras are also acceptable. No bookbinding or image transfer experience is required.

*Experimental Linoleum Printing with Carlos Barberena

Linoleum was a 20th-century development in the art of relief cuts and is used far more than any other material to create relief prints. In this technique, the design to be printed is cut in the same manner as a woodcut. The advantage of using linoleum is the ease of cutting due to the softness of the material and lack of grain and fiber direction. In this workshop, students will learn how to adapt a design for relief printing, transfer the design onto the block, and cut the block with different gouges to create an enriched and balanced relief print. The instructor will also demonstrate two different methods of printing: by hand, using a wooden spoon on Japanese paper, and printing with an etching press using the BFK Rives Paper. Once students have learned basic printing techniques in black and white, the class will begin to experiment using colors. Utilizing the design from the linoleum plate, students will then learn how to create a colored monotype. Students will learn to prepare an acrylic plate based off of this design and to prepare the acrylic plate with watercolors. Finally, students will learn to use both linoleum and acrylic plates in a double-printing process to create the colored monotype. No experience necessary.

Weekend Three: November 4 – 7, 2010

*Dance for Children with Autism with Andrew Palermo

In 2008, Andrew Palermo’s dre.dance premiered ‘beyond.words,' an evening-length work focusing on the autism spectrum. In conjunction with the piece and through research, interviews, one-on-one sessions, and most importantly, group movement classes, Andrew Palermo has designed a simple yet profound way of engaging individuals on the autism spectrum through movement and creative choreography. Palermo's classes utilize popular music and include warm up/stretching, balance and strengthening exercises, work with partners, and a final combination where the students are actively involved in creating the routine. Palermo's understanding of the intricacies of the spectrum, his choice of activities, and the pacing of the class elicit in his students a deep sense of self-confidence and engagement. This workshop will give participants hands-on training in Palermo’s movement therapy technique, as well as offering spirited discussion, debate, and consideration on all that is the autism spectrum; most particularly, when looked at through the scope of the performing and creative arts. This workshop is designed for the teachers, parents, and caregivers of children with autism and/or special needs.  No experience necessary.  

*Acting with Mark Madama

The objective of this workshop will be to deepen the craft of theatre and teaching theatre. Within this workshop, time will be spent on the individual needs of the participants and the collection and assimilation of the solutions found by its members. The goal will be to bring together all the expertise, skills, and experience we have individually accomplished and facilitate the sharing of this knowledge. We will explore methods of unleashing creativity by finding the techniques best suited for your individual needs. We will work together and in groups on how best to approach text, break down characters, explore creativity, enhance audition skills, incorporate acting/warm up exercises, and strengthen the focus on basic storytelling. This workshop will include the importance of journaling, audition techniques, and exploring individual scripts to find ways of connecting these stories to our historical and daily lives. This workshop is appropriate for all levels, and it's great for acting, drama, debate, English, and gifted/talented educators.

*Basic Digital Photography with Ben Long

Learn the ins and outs of digital photography, from shooting to editing and printing, in this fun four-day workshop. No matter what your skill level, you'll learn something, as we cover all the specifics of your camera's controls, as well as how to compose and expose a shot. After a lecture/presentation on shooting on Thursday afternoon, we’ll get up Friday morning for a shooting expedition in the area. The rest of the classes will center around post-production, including importing, organizing, and keywording your images using Adobe Bridge; tone and color corrections in Photoshop; dodging, burning, and other localized edits; and finally printing. Basic computer skills required. Students must bring their own digital camera, either digital SLR or point-and-shoot. Whether you're an abject beginner, a dabbler, or a seasoned digital shooter, this class will help you get your photography to the next level.

*Beyond Monotype with Ron Pokrasso

While utilizing Akua water-based inks, this workshop covers a wide range of techniques possible in the monotype process and continues through the use of collage, drawing, and multiple plate projects. Students will be encouraged to pursue their artistic vision using monotype as a mark-making tool in combination with whatever other techniques are efficient and available. The notion of the "artist as an inventor" will be stressed as mixed media techniques open the door to limitless opportunities. The approach is energetic and open, as each student's individual style will dictate the direction of the workshop. Modifying, layering, mixing inks, finding color, use and abuse of mark-making tools, exploring the limits of paper, collage, chine colle, and built-up surface will all be discussed. Finishing prints as resolved and complete expressions including solving issues after printing are aspects of the workshop. Some monotype and/or other printmaking experience is helpful, however all levels of experience are welcome.

* = Workshop full; please select a different workshop.