May 30, 2020
In this Issue:
Introduction
The More Things Change...
In the Studio with...
Ellen Donaldson
Student Highlights
#WAMArtChallenge
Writing:
The Monster
by David Bohanan
Prompts & Demos
- Writing Prompt
- Drawing Demo
Adult & Youth Class News
Online Resources
- Artist Grant/Support Opportunities
- Call to Create
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The More Things Change...
...the more they stay the same. Above you can see an image of the children's classroom at the Worcester Art Museum circa 1915. Over 100 years ago the Museum helped engage youth (and adults!) in drawing, painting, and creative thinking. The same continues today. In person - and remotely - WAM continues to encourage, engage, and enthuse our community with new offerings and opportunities to reflect, respond, and create.
So although some things have changed - clothing, technology, and keeping collection items in the galleries, to name a few - many things have not. Our commitment to the community and our students; offering fun, educational classes and workshops for all ages; encouraging fresh thinking and creative growth - these have stayed the same. Thank you for staying, too!
Cheers,
Elizabeth Buck
Manager of Studio Class Programs
Worcester Art Museum
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In the Studio with...
WAM Faculty Ellen Donaldson
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Ellen Donaldson
An artist and educator, Ellen Donaldson brings a wealth of experience to her classes at the Museum. As a long-time Montessori educator, she has a strong background in child development. This gives her the ability to relate objects in the collection to themes of particular interest to her students, tapping their enthusiasm and generating excitement to make their own art.
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One of her favorite examples of a student connection to an artwork was the time that a student, when viewing a biblical-based painting, likened the glowing, ascending figures to the portals in a video game.
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Finding paths between art and her students’ lives is an important part of her teaching. Encouraging her students to feel ownership of the galleries is critical, as she loves when her students know the Museum so well that they can give directions to their favorite gallery.
What she is most proud of, however, is the excitement her students show about their own artwork, especially when they can share it with the entire classroom.
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Outside of WAM, Ellen is a resident artist with Open Door Arts, Massachusetts and works with elementary school students from across Worcester County.
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She enjoys pursuing her own drawing, painting, and mixed media work which she exhibits locally. Currently, Ellen is painting in watercolors, weaving on her 45-inch four-harness loom, and enjoying spending time in her garden.
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#WAMArtChallenge Highlights
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Thank you all for participating in a #WAMArtChallenge!
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THE MONSTER
by David Bohanan
An old man was walking slowly down the sidewalk. The squares were broken and pieces of concrete stuck up in uneven patterns. He was hunched over with a cane in each hand to navigate his way across the erratic path. He came this way every night after leaving his job. He wore a bulky overcoat and a round-brimmed hat was smashed on his head. It was only early evening but it was dark and a haze sat about ten feet above the ground. Street lights shone dimly through the early gloom, not twinkling, but casting a phosphorescent dull glow against the murky veil of the mist. Low buildings squatted beside the sidewalk. High buildings rose through the mist and the tops of the buildings could not be seen. They were all dark, except the one he had just left. Furnaces belched flames that could be seen scarlet through the two windows on either side of the door he had passed through. This went on night and day. The building seemed to shudder from the blasts of the furnaces and the thumping of other machinery inside the building. The old man put pieces of metal together, sometimes just pushing them so they fit properly, sometimes tapping them with a delicate silver hammer to make a single piece. Then he put them back on the line and they were taken to another part of the building and he never knew where they went or what they did or what they were for or why he did what he did. Hundreds of other men and women worked on the line as he did, but they did not speak to each other. They wore glasses that magnified their eyes and allowed them to piece the parts together that they were assembling. When a horn squawked they would shuffle into a dingy dining area and take meager meals from creased paper bags, maybe a cup of water. He usually ate a sandwich made of a slice of cheese and a slice of meat on white bread. Crumbs would fall from his mouth as he ate and mice and rats would scurry around his feet to pick on their own meal. Then the horn would squawk and he would shuffle back to his spot on the..
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Challenges, Prompts, and Demos
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Youth Classes
Our Spring Online youth classes began last week, thank you so much for your participation!
Keep an eye out for Summer Session I beginning in mid-June, with offerings throughout the summer! We will be running multi-age Youth classes Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Tuesday/Thursday blocks.
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Adult Classes
We are preparing brand-new adult offerings coming up in June and over the summer. Calligraphy, Abstract Art, Asian Brush, and Photoshop are a few of the options we are working on right now - final schedule out soon!
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Opportunities and Resources
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Artist Relief from Americans for the Arts
To support artists during the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition of national arts grantmakers have come together to create an emergency initiative to offer financial and informational resources to artists across the United States.
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Call to Create
Flora in Winter 2020 was our first time including a community art exhibition - and we plan to do so again! Although not our official Call to Artists, consider this a call to create - giving all our great students, visitors, members, volunteers, and staff ample time to craft their own 3D floral submission for the
2021 Sculpted Flora exhibition in January 2021.
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COVID-19 Resources for Artists and Arts Organizations
Are You an Artist in Need of Aid? Here Are Dozens of Emergency Grants, Medical Funds, and Other Resources to Help
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