Happy Hanukkah 2020!

Wishing you a very Happy Hanukkah from CCA! We hope you are in good health and have a safe (and sparkly) holiday! 

In 2018, we celebrated the holiday with COLOR !!!

Our Art Adventurers explored color-mixing by making their own age-appropriated color wheel with watercolors!

We then took inspiration from the Bauhaus painter, Wassily Kandinsky & created our version of his concentric (bulls-eye) circle color studies… But included some radiating Hanukkah Lights! (Goal: Complementary, Neutral, Warm & Cool)

*As a boy, Kandinsky’s father became an owner of a tea factory. Kandinsky enjoyed during his childhood years, the piano, cello and drawing. “I remember that drawing and a little bit later painting lifted me out of the reality, he wrote later.” He was always keen on the arts but his parents had other interests in mind. They had him attend law school and he became a successful “Professor to the Department of Law.” Though in his thirties, he ended his career in law and went after his passion in drawing! He attended art schools in Europe and became very successful after his 2nd attempt at schooling in the arts. He then travelled with his latter wife in Europe for five years and then settled down in Murnau at the bottom of the Alps. He soon started painting beautiful, colorful “spots and lines [which] was gradually superseding images of reality.” This is what sparked our love for color! (Unknown, 2008-2020)

*“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” 

-James Keller  (Silberman, 2020)

*Silberman, Jeff (2020) Uplifting Hanukkah Quotes to Read This December. Website retrieved from https://rebekahlowin.com/hanukkah-quotes/

Unknown (2008-2020). The Biography. Website retrieved from https://www.wassilykandinsky.net/

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Despite the pandemic, we are very THANKFUL for the family or friends that we are able to connect with either in their homes or by a phone call. We also want to take a moment to be thankful for the things that we do have this fall season: A warm bed to sleep in, a warm meal on the table and art supplies in our cabinets or strewn across the table! 

What do Matisse, Eric Carle, Claes Oldenburg and Wayne Thiebaud have in common?

Answer: Food Art! 

An Art Adventures blast from the past for Turkeyday fun: PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD! Create food art, inspired by Thiebaud and Matisse and remembering Oldenburg from MoMA’s 2013 exhibition. (We LOVED placing our works on the Thanksgiving table to try to fool the family!)

“Matisse lived during France’s Belle Époque. Café culture was at its height, and cafés were where artists came together to exchange stories, discuss new artistic styles, and eat good food*. What a way to live, discuss and create together! We can do the same today, by making pastries and creating food art out of play dough or cutting newspaper, magazines and colorful plastic bags. Eric Carle and Matisse liked to make their own painted patterned papers (or markers)… THEN cut them up to collage onto cardboard with a glue stick! Make patterns or paint from cool colors: greens, blues and purples, because Green Beans are so fun to cut! (and eat.)

Check out our dinner table collages and dessert sculptures from our Art Adventure Classes:

MoMA’s exhibition of Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store was displayed in August of 2013. This was one of our favorite tours to lead! Oldenburg is known for his depictions of everyday objects, here as sculptures.  The Street is comprised of objects made from cardboard, burlap and newspaper (Playdough/Model Magic) and The Store is made up of brightly painted sculptures and reliefs.

How would you build your own food sculpture? Will your turkey be blue or purple? What would you use?

Let’s see your pics! @clairescreative or FB: #clairescreativeadventures

In past Party Adventures, Claes Oldenburg has inspired bushels of fun!

We wish you a very happy & creative Thanksgiving! Enjoy your holiday:)

*Gomez-Rejon, M. (2014, Update 2017) Cooking Art History: Dining with Matisse. Website retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cooking-art-history-dinin_b_5339438

Ackerman creates Tiny Food Art, can you?

Creating art brings peace and relaxation to the body and mind, when times are uncertain or when the mind is troubled by the worries of the world.

Read how Rebecca Ackerman created tiny food clay art to cure her pandemic anxiety!

PC: NY Times

Create with us in the Fall!

More about Claire’s Art Adventures:

We believe that learning to think creatively is necessary to everyone’s development. Our program is designed to reach all intelligences, to go beyond school curricula to demystify art, artists and their processes with exciting advanced materials. Located at All Souls Church, Art Adventures is an inclusive hands-on children’s art league that teaches art not just as a pastime, but as a means of individual expression. Children leave with confidence as they develop the courage to tackle the “artistic problems” we introduce. While exploring contemporary, modern and multicultural art, children learn to overcome obstacles, master triumphs and revel in the excitement over newfound ways to use myriad mediums!

Visiting artists are also invited throughout the year to share their unique perspectives. One Museum or gallery visit is included each semester for ages 4 and up. Art Adventures Studio classes visit museums and galleries more frequently. Although semester enrollment is offered, our curriculum will span the entire year. Languages are also an important part of learning about the world! We offer Art and French classes where French is introduced throughout the art processes.

Topics include:

Modern & Contemporary artists, Multicultural arts & multi-media exploration! Tailored curriculum means new ideas and applications including classical self-portraits, line, shape and color studies & landscapes… However, here are some unique favorites along the way: Magnetic sculpture, Plaster hand casting, Pollock in the park, Wayne Thiebaud and Claes Oldenburg pop-art food sculpture, Louise Nevelson and Giacometti sculptures, Calder mobiles, stabiles and circuses, Lichtenstein patterns, African masks, cloths and mud painting, Batiking, Encaustics, Egyptian art, Japanese fish prints, Chinese calligraphy, storytelling, World Arts and so much more… mostly because processes are child-directed or reflect the museums we visit!

Inquire more about it, today!

Update from Claire’s Creative Adventures about the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak:

Update from Claire’s Creative Adventures about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak:

CCA is continuing to monitor this situation moment by moment.  We will continue to give you updates as quickly as possible.

As our history together has shown, we care just as much about your children as you do.  We ask that if you, your child(ren), anyone in your family and/or household (including staff) is or was feeling sick or unwell, even if it’s unrelated to the coronavirus, to let us know immediately.

The more we are in communication and support each other, the better off we all will be; We are an intimate group of adults and children which must be hyper-aware of how to be together in a safe, healthy and responsible way.  We welcome parental feedback and information at all times.  Please do not hesitate to contact us by email or phone should you have any concerns or information.

Here is some information from the City of New York and CCA to help keep you, your children and our community safe:

  • Until further notice, the Art Adventures Programs & Spring Break Camp is remaining open, and our scheduled programs will remain unaffected through taking detailed and targeted precautionary measures; Bear in the mind that this can change at any minute as more information is provided to us by health officials, local government and/or our facility, All Souls Church.
  • We are working with mandates from the Governor’s Office of New York.
  • A new CCA policy addendum will require anyone attending future CCA classes and camps to answer a list of questions to ensure all students’ health and safety prior to attendance and periodically throughout programs.
  • Parents will decide on whether or not to have their healthy children attend the CCA Spring Break Camp.  You will need to let us know immediately if your child is NOT attending.
  • If you or anyone you know feels in any way ill, for any reason, we cannot have your child attend camp or class.
  • We will remain calm, handling questions from children in an age-appropriate manner.
  • We look forward to proceeding with your child’s Art Adventures fun & creativity, and most importantly, all of our safety.

Parents/Caregivers:

·       If any of the following symptoms have presented themselves in the past 2 weeks (feeling feverish, new on-set of persistent cough, sneezing, runny nose, nasal or chest congestion, sore throat, shortness of breath) you and/or your child may be refused and/or will be sent home upon detection.  Medical confirmation of health via a signature from your doctor/ child’s doctor will be required before entering and/or returning.

·       If any of the above symptoms have presented themselves in the past 48 hours, your child will be refused.  Medical confirmation of health via a signature from your doctor/ child’s doctor will be required before entering and/or returning.

·       A mandatory questionnaire will be made available prior to attendance and periodically throughout the programs.

·       All adults, including caregivers, must be informed and held accountable for understanding the policies and information and follow the same preventative measures for themselves and their children.

Location:

CCA has always paid attention to detail.  We are taking proactive and preventative measures to keep everyone safe.

  • Sterilization of the premises, ourselves and the tools we use and come in contact with, along with full disinfection and maintenance of disinfection of all surfaces, doorknobs, handles, bathrooms & communal spaces.
  • There will be no cross handling of art tools: Each child will receive individual “art toolboxes” for use in camps, sterilized daily.
  • All tools, tabletops, surfaces, doorknobs, handles and chairs will be disinfected prior to each class.
  • In addition, CCA will be implementing a “No Touch Zone.”
  • From entry to departure, all guests will be asked to keep their hands to themselves.

Teachers:

  • Will be following a specific teacher safety protocol, including how to get to and leave from the premises.
  • Will not be allowed to work if any sign of illness.
  • Are required to list all locations of work outside of CCA and report any documented cases of coronavirus therein immediately and prior to work start.

Rest assured we are instituting contact protocols and every measure possible to keep our children healthy.

We want to make sure our stresses don’t get carried onto our children.  With these measures in place, the best thing we can do for children is that they continue to have fun in a relaxed and safe environment.

Spokesman from the Governor’s office of New York with regards to communities and schools:

  • Each community is unique.
  • With limited exposure, some communities will act perhaps differently than communities with wider and larger exposure.
  • We want to have schools remain open, when they cannot work online or telecommute.
  • Children are better off in schools, with the proper safety protocols, given the information provided thus far.
  • In cases where exposure of the coronavirus was found, temporarily closings to clean the schools and then re-opening.
  • You are more likely not to get sick than to get sick.
  • For younger healthy people- think about the same precautions as you would in flu season.
  • Businesses to authorize staggered schedules and not travel during heavy commuter hours if forced to take mass transit.

What else can you do as an attendee?

  • We’re sure you’ve heard all about washing your hands for at least 20 seconds; continue to practice healthy hygienic habits multiple times a day, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects, both at work and at home (cellphone, door handles, light switches, remote controls, desks, etc.)
  • If you have family or friends who are elderly, have compromised immune systems or chronic respiratory or coronary issues, do not visit them if you feel sick.
  • If you’re feeling at all sick, let us know immediately, and please stay home & rest up!

We are New Yorkers. We will get through this with communication & working together.

This is obviously a situation that’s changing minute by minute, and we want to make sure that the members of our community are aware of both the risks and the preventative measures to take during a public health crisis.

Link to NYC Department of Health
Link to Center for Disease Control & Prevention