Painting of Venice by an Artworks member
Avivo Artworks Residency - Jes Reyes - Adults - 5 hours
This week I started working Avivo’s Open Studios where Artworks members and collective members can come into the studio and work on art. Prior to the open studio, I got to sit in on “Art and Thrive” which happens weekly on Mondays and essentially is an open group discussion on what being a working professional artist looks like. This week we talked about consistency in an artist’s body of work and group members went around and shared what that looks like to them. After “Art and Thrive,” open studio began and members came and went as the day went on. I walked around and asked members what they were working on and even helped one member work out how to paint the sky in their painting. It was really exciting to see what everyone was working on and offer advice in any way I could.
Teen Residency Center - Carmen Elate - Middle School to High School Age - 3 hours over two days
The Squirrel In Question
On Thursday and Friday morning, I was at the Teen Residency Center. The morning art classes are split up into two sections: one group at 8:45 and another at 9:30. Both days the students worked on and shared their altered books that they started with fellow MCAD Teaching Artist, Sarah Maude-Griffin, which contained collages, photos, poetry, and more. One student was really interested in this squirrel outside the window, so I took a photo of it from him to email to Carmen so he could add it to his collection. Another student shared with me some of the poetry they writes and I helped them paint a sunset. For next week, I am planning a mini-valentines day activity to do with them and it’s going to be really fun, so there is more to come.