Kidstreet Chicago

Winter Break Camp.

2012-01-02T11:41:00.001-08:00

Here is a look at some of the projects kids completed during their first week of winter break camp. Congratulations to a wonderful group of kids on their creative and enthusiastic approaches to these assignments.

Frida Kahlo's self portraits are loaded with images of symbolic objects. In this project, kids created a set of symbols to use in their own self portraits.

Campers were introduced to the work of Judith Scott. Mimicking her methods, students created armatures out of various materials. They completed their sculptures by diligently wrapping them with yarn, string, and strips of fabric.

After learning about Papunya Aboriginal art from the western desert region of Australia, students created their own "dot paintings" on limestone tiles.

We ended the week by making whimsical puppets.

Open House 2011

2011-12-06T09:28:00.001-08:00

Saturday was filled with creative energy and lots of glitter in the kids studios here at Lillstreet. Check out some of the sophisticated works of art created by our young artist! The wide variety of projects that came out of a simple set of materials was absolutely inspirational. Left: Buttons, wood and string used to create a necklace that matches her coat.
Right: Pom poms and her own face turned creative time into a performance we were all able to enjoy.

This young lady made several versions of her little dolls using different materials. She made these out of buttons, wooden beads, and wire.

Left: Buildings under construction! The group used wood and glue to create their structures. Embellishments varied.
Right: Covering projects in a delicious layer of glitter. Bravo!

Congratulations Kris...

2011-12-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

...and welcome to the kidstreet family little Lucia!

Oobleck and a Scanner.

2011-10-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Kidstreet classroom was an experimental art and science studio this morning. A class of 18 - 30 month old artist created compositions with non-Newtonian fluids then used a scanner to record their transient art.

It’s pretty exciting to push a button and watch a print appear. Another tool has been added to their material palette!

Wild Things!

2011-08-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

A day at the Lincoln Park Zoo with Sarah Kaiser and Angela Kovacs drawing Wild Things.

Digital + Handmade

2011-07-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Check out some of the amazing work created by students during the first two weeks of the Digital + Handmade camp. Another session has been added for the first week in August!

Students learned how to use various tools in Photoshop.

Students created 3D compositions then scanned them and altered them using Photoshop.

Students learned to use a digital camera and learned about color channels.

After creating a 2D work of art, students scanned them and added to their compositions using Photoshop.

A good time was had by all.

Student projects - metals camp.

2011-06-30T22:09:00.001-07:00

Violet's beautifully detailed necklace complete with handmade chain.

Quick peek from the second week of summer camp.

2011-06-16T08:13:00.001-07:00

Work from Clay & Multimedia camp ages 5 - 12.

Wheel throwing camp ages 9 - 12.

Metals camp ages 10 - 16.

Functional sculpture for your garden ages 10 - 14.

SUPERHERO!

2011-06-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Is your kid consumed by visual story telling? Have they memorized all the characters in the Marvel Universe? If so, we have the perfect outlet for their love of mutant powers and supernatural abilities. Gary John Reynolds will be teaching Superhero summer camp August 1 - 5.When he’s not teaching 8-12 year olds about proportion, perspective, and foreshortening, this mild mannered artist teaches drawing and relief printmaking at Salem State University in Salem, MA. Gary is currently showing linoleum block prints in an exhibit titled “Lost & Found” in Marblehead, MA.

Summer camp is here!

2011-06-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

It’s an exciting week here at Lillstreet Art Center because summer camps have started. When you teach kids, be prepared to be amazed and surprised by their enthusiasm, creativity, and the thoughtfulness of the things they make. We’ll be posting such moments from summer camp on our blog so you can be amazed with us.

We also wanted to share information about an upcoming show for one of our teachers, Sarah Kaiser. Sarah will be teaching CLAY & MULTIMEDIA, TEEN DRAWING & PAINTING, and WHEEL THROWING camps at Lill Street this summer.

2011-04-20T17:49:00.001-07:00

I’m incredibly excited to be a part of the Lillstreet community as the Resident Artist in the Kidstreet program. While studying art education at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago I focused on how “making” (creating with physical and digital materials) presents opportunities for children to become producers rather than consumers. This research made me eager to participate in a community, like Lill Street, that values “making” as an important developmental pursuit. Through “making,” children elevate their ability to act as stewards of a sustainable world.

As Melanie mentioned in her last post, my daughter Cora has been testing projects as I develop them for classes here at Lill Street. One of her favorites so far was made by drizzling chocolate syrup on a piece of plexiglass. She scanned it, altered it in Photoshop, and then used that image to create several different variations.

Simple materials and time to play...

Open House Fun

2011-03-20T07:10:00.001-07:00

We had a great time with all the families that came to our open house yesterda! Gabriella took some wonderful photos of some of the wonderful creations:

At Kidstreet, we love the opportunity to come up with creative uses for materials destined for the landfill, as demonstrated by these wonderful hand puppets made from CD mailers.

For those of you who missed the open house, you are always welcome to drop by during our open hours and tour the building- there are many artist studios, classrooms, the gallery, and delicious food and drink at the First Slice cafe. Saturday mornings we also have a drop in family class from 10:30-11:30 and it is recommended that you pre-register by calling the front desk at 773.769.4226 or signing up on-line.

Our Spring class session begins the week of March 28th and many classes still have available openings. View the schedule online here. We are very excited to have our new Artist-in-Residence, Kimberly Pancoast, who is introducing a technology based class this Spring as well as a few camps this summer. She is busy experimenting with scanners and transferring images to various materials. I can't wait to see what the kids do with this new tool!

I have so enjoyed getting to know Kimberly and her creative (and sometimes guinea pig for new projects) daughter Cora. One of my favorite conversations was about how our kids loved the simplest things. For example, I brought home a plant that was sitting on top of small pebbles and my son could not get enough of playing with them. Kimberly had the same experience with her daughter who loved playing with dried beans and had a huge container of them she continued to use even as she became older. So much creativity with such humble materials. Kids are so amazing.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Melanie

Fall and Winter Upcoming Events

2010-10-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
We hope everyone is having a cheerful and healthy autumn. It has been a busy Fall term, and we are into our second week of our second session. It's too late to join most of our weekly classes, but we do have our weekly Family Drop-In and Workshops if you are looking for a weekend activity the entire family can do together, and School's Out camps for the Veteran's Day holiday.

We have begun offering classes for teens on Friday nights from 7-9pm. I am very pleased that we have a large group of young adults learning to make their own comic books from Andrew Campbell. We look forward to seeing some of their work and hope to post some soon. We will continue to offer multiple classes on Friday nights for teens. We are excited to provide a place for creative young adults have a place to connect with each other and exchange ideas and develop friendships.

We have begun registration for our Early Winter mini-term, which runs from Nov. 29th through the week of Dec. 13th. There are weekly classes for all ages, family workshops, and school's out camps to accommodate busy holiday schedules. There are some exciting winter-themed classes and workshops offered:

Print and Paint with your toddler to create one-of-a-kind gift wrap and cards!
Your 5-8 year old can make a ceramic snow village that will light up!
Come as a family and make Ornaments or Menorahs at one of our Family Workshops.
You can see the complete listing for classes here: Lillstreet.com

Looking to get into the holiday spirit? Come to our Open House from 12-5pm on Dec. 4th and walk through our gallery and artists studios, take one of our free workshops for children and adults, and maybe even pick up a special hand made gift from a local artist.

We hope to see you soon!

Melanie and the Kidstreet Staff

All Things Messy!!

2010-07-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

Kids got a little crazy with paint, clay, and plaster in the All Things Messy camp at Lillstreet earlier in June. We had a ton of fun experimenting with baking soda and vinegar, shaving cream, and finger painting. At the end of the week we had a body paint parade with the plaster puppets we made!!

Exciting creations from the young designers of Lillstreet!

2010-07-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

The first session of Lillstreet Chic has ended.In one short week we learned the basics of fashion illustration and pattern-making, and made bags, bracelets, skirts and screen-prints. It was a lot to get through, but with such dedicated and creative students the results were impressive! Lillstreet Chic runs again in August, so there's still plenty of time to sign up!

CAMP!

2010-05-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you have all been at the beach making sandcastles or riding your bicycles in the wonderful sunshine. Summer's here! School is not out for all of us, but this Memorial Day weekend starts what I think will be an amazing Summer.
Camps start next week! Get very excited :)
And it's not too late to register for camp! So if you are thinking of signing up for a summer camp, call or stop into Lillstreet sometime soon and sign up! It's going to be a wonderful and creative summer. We are building new cabinets in our classrooms to make it easier to navigate and fit more materials to make more and more beautiful things!
Hope everyone is keeping cool!
Alyson

In full swing!

2010-04-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Things have been going great here at Kidstreet. We are getting ready for our summer camps, starting the week of June 7th. So if you are thinking of signing up, come on in because the camps are filling up fast!
We've been having a great time so far, making beautiful things, and can't wait for the summer!
Our second 5-week Spring session started this week, and I'm really excited to see what everybody makes :)

New Season, New Session!

2010-03-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!
The Winter session just ended last week and the Spring starts up next week! I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather. I know we can all use some sun.
The last few classes were full of some beautiful creativity, and this upcoming session sounds like it's going to be wonderful. There are still openings for classes, so sign up if you can!

Keeping Warm

2010-02-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
A couple weeks ago we had the Schools Out camps at Kidstreet, where we made some really amazing clay and multimedia projects.
We also have our schedule out for the next Spring session and the Summer Camps at Kidstreet! Looking at the schedule, it looks like there will be some really diverse things going on. For those who like to get messy and have fun just playing around and being creative, I'll be having a Messy camp this summer. And I saw that there's a Movie Making camp, which I'd like to sign up for if I could...too bad I'm not a kid anymore.
Sign up soon for classes and camps!
Alyson

January Creativity!

2010-01-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

This month has been going great here at Kidstreet, everybody has their hands into some kind of creative work.
In Sue's Wednesday Toddler Multimedia class this past week, students made nests by pushing their thumbs into a ball of clay to make a little bowl, then using the garlic press to make texture for the nests. If you turn the bowl over, you can make a birthday cake! It was messy, but as you can see, they turned out pretty well.

The multimedia classes are really fun because we learn how to create with many different media, not just clay. Roz's Thursday multimedia class gets to pick which weeks they want to work with clay and what other media they want to use. We talked about doing mosaics one week, painting, collage, and even shrinky-dink! It should be fun, I'll let everyone know what we end up doing!

The Kidstreet blog will be updated more frequently now that classes are in full swing, and I think I will start posting ideas for creative projects that everybody - kids, parents, teachers, the dog - can do at home. Because creativity doesn't just happen in classroom!! It's everywhere!

Keep warm!
Alyson

Winter Classes Have Begun

2010-01-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Winter session has begun and some classes are still open if you'd like to register your child for the remaining weeks. We also offer School's Out Camps that run from 9-3:30 during selected holidays. (MLK Day still has space!) Can't commit to a class? We have Family Drop-In every Saturday and Family Workshops on selected weekends.

There are some new classes, and I have had the pleasure of beginning one for our youngest students yet: Colored Textures for ages 18 to 30 months. It has been a complete joy to get to know these wee artists as well as the friends and family members who accompany them. In these adult/child classes it is so important that the adults guide the children in their exploration, and they have been doing a really wonderful job of allowing their children to explore and create for themselves. I will be posting photos soon! We have also begun some new classes for teens and starting in Spring we will be offering multiple classes on Friday evenings. If you have a teen that wants a class sooner than the Spring you can start a custom class with 5 or more students.
Call the front desk for more information: 773.769.4226

I am happy to announce that Lillstreet has begun sponsoring a Meetup Group for the Lillstreet and neighborhood community. It is absolutely free to join and we've already scheduled two art playgroups here at Lillstreet for group members. There is a message board where you can post and read threads regarding ways to bring art and creativity into your home. I'm personally very excited about this because I have had such a great experience with my neighborhood's Meetup Group. It really is a wonderful way to connect with other parents with similar interests- I hope you'll join us!

Best wishes,
Melanie
Melanie Brown
Kidstreet Program Director
melanie@lillstreet.com

It's a New Year!

2009-12-31T12:26:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone!
This is Alyson Thiel, the new Artist-in-Residence with Kidstreet this year. I'm really excited to be working here, and to meet all of the students and parents!
I can tell you a bit about myself: I'm 23 years old, and I just moved to Chicago from Western Pennsylvania (a country girl!). I have a BFA degree in Studio Art and I'm a painter. I'm planning on going to graduate school next year for Art Therapy. I love chocolate cupcakes, being barefoot (but not in Chicago winters of course!), tea, and being creative!
I have some great ideas for this year, so you should all be really excited. If you want to get in contact with me, just go to the Lillstreet website and click my link!
I'll be around the studios taking photographs, helping out with classes, and basically making everything as creative and wonderful as it can be. I hope to see everyone soon (winter classes are starting up next week)!
Happy New Year everyone!
Alyson

Paint, Song, and Stories

2009-10-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

Bobbe and Sue had their very popular"Paint, Song, and Stories" class where process-oriented, messy painting led by Bobbe took place, a story was read to the families, and songs were sung in Spanish and English while Sue played her guitar. One of the parents took wonderful photographs during the class. You can see a few in this post, and the rest on our Flickr site!

Bobbe was remembering this great class, saying...

"I gave the children shaving cream. They chose liquid watercolors, and began to mix the colors and play with the colored shaving cream on paper. One little boy was so involved in the process, he was up to his elbows in shaving cream. Many of the children speak Spanish and one girl described her painting as the "oceano." The final paintings are beautiful, however, this is a project that was focused on tactile exploration."

2009-10-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

We're so happy that Kidstreet was able to participate in the Ravenswood Art Walk this weekend.

Below are a few images of young artists and their family members working with various art materials in the studio.

One studio was open to the public to be used as a process-oriented space to play with art materials, and our Yellow Room studio functioned as a work space for kids and caregivers to help create art pieces that will be part of a permanent display on our new cupboards.

Thanks to those of you who contributed part of your afternoon and creative ideas to Lillstreet Art Center!

Quinn

Our Last Week of Camp?? Already?!

2009-09-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it, but we're nearing the end of our Kidstreet Summer Camp (sniff), but we are very excited about starting a new school year, because that means beginning our new Fall classes at kidstreet!

It's been such a wonderful summer, so good in fact, that this last week was added as an extra camp due to the extremely popular weeks of camp we've had already.

Thanks to all those who joined one week or many weeks of camp this summer. I really hope you enjoyed all the fun projects, dedicated teachers and assisstants, the old friends you re-connected with, and the new friends you made. If you're able to sign up for an after-school class during the year, it would be great to have you all back at Lillstreet again.

Please feel free to look at the newest photos posted on our Flickr site!

...And if you stop by Lillstreet this week, you'll get to see the newest installation piece constructed by Gary and Brian's class (near the water fountain), and the outer space scene made by my class.

Thanks for a SPECTACULAR summer!!! See you in the Fall!

Quinn

Very Very Busy, But Having Fun!

2009-08-26T15:43:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since our last post...just goes to show how busy we've been at camp this summer...

This week, one group of campers has been working on a photography project. After talking about parts and function of an old Canon SLR, looking at books of children and grown-up photographers, writing and sketching ideas, just this morning each child was given their own disposable film camera, and we all set out to photograph the community around us. The negatives are being developed now, and we're all eager to see how the images turn out. In preparation for their 4x5 prints, the children have made simple photo albums/scrap books out of paper and yarn, to be assembled with the pictures tomorrow morning.

There are so many other awesome projects being created all throughout Kidstreet this week, such as the large-scale clay work done by Gary and Brian's class, and the monotype prints in Amanda's class. In fact, camp this summer has been so popular, we've decided to add a whole extra week! If you'd still like to sign up for next week, check availability at Lillstreet's front desk.

We hope to be posting more pictures on our Flickr site of this week's fun activities.

(Remember, there's a link to Flickr on the right hand side of this page).

Thanks for reading,

Quinn

Stop Motion Photography

2009-07-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hi! An art camp group from two weeks ago was introduced to photography. This group of eleven 9 to 11-year-olds were immediately intrigued upon learning about F-stop, shutter speed, aperture functions, negatives and emulsion, etc.

After studying the Poloroid photo collages of David Hockney and creating their own collages with images, they decided as a group that they wanted to do a project that involved more than just still photography - stop motion.

We got to work right away, preparing costumes, dialoging about ideas and themes, and the kids even composed their own songs using Garage Band to accompany the photo slideshows. We looked at some original "stop motion" photography by the photographer working during the 19th century, Eadweard Muybridge, to get a better idea of history and possibilities.

Enjoy the short slideshow and music while keeping in mind the involved process the children were so engaged in to create these pieces in only four days! (Also, I was only able to upload one video for now, but please feel free to view the other two on the Kidstreet Flickr site in the right hand column of this page).

Camps are growing! Trees are being created!

2009-07-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

Last week, Jenny and Angela's camp conducted a Tree Study in which they first gathered natural materials during a walk around Lillstreet, then used printmaking and painting techniques to create large-scale trees. Enjoy the colorful pictures!

Please visit our new Flickr site for more images!

"The Magical Mango Tree"

2009-07-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last week, the 7 to 11-year-old Clay & Multi-Media camp created their own screenplay and a feature film (only about 4 minutes long though). Their movie was shot on Thursday and premiered on Friday. I am so impressed with the children's unlimited imagination and motivation behind the making of this beautiful film, "The Magical Mango Tree."

Because one of my goals as an art teacher at Lillstreet is to help the children engage in community outreach, I invited a friend and filmmaker, who studies film at Columbia College Chicago, to bring a video camera, some lighting equiptment, and film knowledge to the kids. He enthusiastically agreed, and helped the children make their screenplay a movie! It was a huge success - about 40 people attended the premiere (thanks to all of you who were able to support our budding filmmakers' and actors' careers!).

If you're interested, please visit this site http://actionart.ning.com/ to see a new Community of Practice (CoP, or on-line discussion forum) I've developed to engage people in dialogue about children's art-making practices as a form of taking action in their communities. I was actually asked to create a CoP for an Erikson Institute school assignment, but I hope the discussions will continue to grow and advance well beyond the course semester. On this site, you'll see some new discussion forums, a few photos, and the children's screenplay for "The Magical Mango Tree."

Don't forget to check out our new Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/40063406@N07/

(lots of "Production Stills" have recently been posted!)

Quinn

Camp is in full swing!

2009-06-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hi! So far, the kids here at camp are creating beautiful works of art...and this is just the beginning of summer! Please see the new Kidstreet sign below, designed and painted by the children in Lauren's class...it is truly an amazing piece of collaborative art. (And personally, I think this should be printed on the next batch of Kidstreet t-shirts)

I just finished teaching an unbelievably spectacular week of camp. The children in the AM Red Room studio worked so hard on all kinds of projects. Two of the most inspiring seemed to be our Matisse collage study, and the anti-smoking extravaganza. The Matisse study turned into a full-blown performance with paper puppets, performed for over 35 people (the children made and distributed tickets to the other camp classes). I might be able to show the video footage we captured during tomorrow's Open House (12-5pm at Lillstreet!).

The anti-smoking project was motivated by the children's dissatisfaction with people smoking near them at lunch-time on Wednesday afternoon. The entire group picked up their lunches and moved away from the smoke in the air, and just a moment later an anti-smoking club was formed. Please feel free to view the activist art work made by the children in response to their disapproval, just beside Lillstreet Art Center's front steps.

Enjoy the images documenting these fantastic child-prompted, elaborate, fun, and inspiring art projects!

The Anti-Smoking Club:

The Matisse study and preparation for "Icarus in the Sea":

Camp has begun!!!

2009-06-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Happy summer everyone! We are all very excited about such a wonderful start to a new camp session!

Below are just a few images I took during wheel throwing and clay & multi-media.

Teachers and students alike have been very focused on their art-making practices, and so far it looks like no one has forgotten to have FUN!

...Please check our blog periodically throughout the summer for more images of the artwork and your children working hard as budding talented artists...

Also, please don't forget to come out to our SUMMER OPEN HOUSE this Saturday from 12-5pm!!!

For more info, see www.lillstreet.com

Quinn

Our New Reading Area

2009-06-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

The new reading area in the Yellow Room kids studio is really coming along! Check out our progress below....

Before:

During:

After, and still in progress!

One of my favorite features of the newly painted wall are the black spots...we used CHALKBOARD PAINT!

Quinn

Camp has begun!!!

2009-06-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Happy summer everyone! We are all very excited about such a wonderful start to a new camp session!

Below are just a few images I took during wheel throwing and clay & multi-media.

Teachers and students alike have been very focused on their art-making practices, and so far it looks like no one has forgotten to have FUN!

...Please check our blog periodically throughout the summer for more images of the artwork and your children working hard as budding talented artists...

Also, please don't forget to come out to our SUMMER OPEN HOUSE this Saturday from 12-5pm!!!

For more info, see www.lillstreet.com

Quinn

A New Reading Area is Under Way!

2009-05-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hi all! We're in the process of creating a reading area in the Yellow Room children's studio. (Please see a previous blog post for more info about the use of this space!) I hope everyone can enjoy stories together, like Pierce, his mother, and baby-on-the-way in the photo above!

I am beginning to sort through the book collection that already exists, while adding appropriate books as I collect them. If you have any new or used books you'd like to donate to our reading corner, whether they're specifically about art or not, please feel free to drop one off at the Lillstreet front desk for Melanie or Quinn.

We also plan to paint the wall soon, where the gold curtain is hanging now, just to make the area even more inviting and relaxing.

Thanks for reading!

Quinn

Hurry! Camps are Filling Fast!

2009-05-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to pass on a quick reminder - Don't forget to sign your children up for Kidstreet summer camp classes before they all fill! Those of you who have been involved in camps in the past know that it is such a fun and inspiring way for your children to spend the day - making art, connecting and communicating with other children and teachers, walking to the park for a lunch break, and so much more! And those of you who have never been involved in summer camp should at least try it! I think you and your kids will be very pleased. I can't help but remember my first experience as a teacher at Lillstreet. I began working this time last summer, and after a week of camp, I was hooked, and I'm sure your kids will be too!

If you want to see a complete list of camps offered, and the schedule of classes, please visit:

http://www.lillstreet.com/kids

Summer camp begins June 8th, and I hope to see all of you then!

-Quinn

The warm weather is on its way...and we hope it's here to stay!

2009-04-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since our last post and a lot has happened here at Kidstreet since then. One event was our first Parent Workshop hosted by myself, Melanie, and Glynnis. It was made up of a small intimate group of parents and teachers. For two hours we worked with clay in a process-oriented way, discussed ways to nurture children's creativity, drank coffee, and talked about different clay techniques and ideas. Parents were sent home with some reading material about how to talk to kids about their art, and a great recipe for making your own clay/playdough at home. It was a great first workshop, especially when we got to hear from the parents about their interests, questions, and even concerns about their child's artistic development. For the parents who attended, thank you for participating!

And coming up soon...
We're beginning to put together a small reading area in the "Yellow Room" kids studio. This will be a space for children to read books, draw, and talk with each other when they're done with an art project, or just want time to relax after class. If you have any books you and your children would like to donate to the new reading area, we would be so appreciative! New or used, we welcome any kind of book...just drop it off in the reading corner of the Yellow studio, or leave it at the front desk for Melanie & Quinn!

We'll keep you updated with the new reading area progress and the next (FREE!) Parent Workshop!
Thanks,
Quinn

The Open House was Spectacular!

2009-03-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who supported the Open House last weekend! It was a huge success! Each studio and gallery space was open for our fellow artists and families from the surrounding community to enjoy. It was so inspiring to see all the incredible work on display and to watch the wonderful demonstrations taking place throughout the afternoon. I especially liked viewing our very own Kidstreet artists' beautiful work on the walls and in the display cases.
Please enjoy the images from the Open House event below, and thanks again for supporting...we hope to see you in the Kidstreet classes beginning on March 23rd!
-Quinn

Thank you also to all of you who came to the family workshop during the Open House and created a clay tile. It was the biggest turnout we have ever had with a total of 94 tiles created! Bobbe and Susan did a wonderful job leading the workshop and I can't wait to get the tiles installed on the walls of the kids room. We all love the idea of our Kidstreet community contributing to the beauty of our space. We'll be documenting the installation process and hopefully have most of the project done by the time camp begins.

Speaking of free workshops, don't forget that this Saturday 3/28 we'll be having our first parent workshop regarding nurturing children's creativity. It's a FREE workshop, but advanced registration is required.

Our Spring session began this week and many of our classes still have openings. Go here to see our schedule. Many classes are offered in 5 week sessions and will begin again the week of April 27th.

Be well!

Melanie

Upcoming classes, workshops, and events:

3/28 Family Drop-In 10:30-11:30. $10/per person.

3/28 Nurturing Your Child's Creativity 12-2pm. FREE (advanced registration required)

3/28 Reception for The Ceramic Print 5-8pm featuring Paul Wandless, author of Image Transfer on Clay. In the gallery.

Ongoing: Registration for Spring classes and Summer Camps.

Call 773.769.4226 or go to: www.lillstreet.com to register and receive additional information.

We're feeling Spring-y

2009-03-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

Hello all!
We hope the colds and flu that have been circulating through Chicago schools and businesses melt away with the snow and that this entry finds all of you healthy. We are really looking forward to Spring here at Kidstreet as the Winter Session comes to an end. To celebrate all the wonderful art-making during the Winter, please join us for the first all school student exhibition at our March 14th Open House. If your child was in a class this session and would like to show a piece they made in class, you can drop off work by March 10th. Contact Melanie Brown for more information: melanie@lillstreet.com

We also have the complete Summer Camp schedule up on our website and are registering now. I was looking through my files and found some wonderful images of work done in the multimedia camps in the past:

Fiber Wall Hangings

Frescoes

And one of the most fun projects ever, marionettes. I loved seeing what the kids came up with and taking video of the performances.

I will be there for the open house, so I hope to see you then!
Melanie

And now your weekly update from Quinn, our artist in residence:

It's already March?! It's the beginning of a new month and I'm very excited to explore all of the Kidstreet classes, document the action using photography, and share what I'm observing with you. Lately, I've been noticing the power of the art projects that emphasize a process-oriented approach, rather than a product-oriented focus. In preparation for the upcoming Open House on March 14, the Kidstreet students are starting to develop work they're interested in sharing with their friends and families at the event. Rather than ask students to "complete a final piece of art" we are encouraging their on-going creativity. So, this means the pieces they've chosen to make for the Open House may very well be works-in-progress come show time on the 14th!

Below are a few images from Kidstreet classes in February...

Hisham and Sam work on their drawings in Susan T's class:

Close attention paid to detail while carving a design in clay:

Thomas paints his clay piece with underglaze in preparation for the Open House on the 14th (He chose to contribute his sculpture titled "Rainbow" for everyone to enjoy!):

Here, Jayla concentrates on her painting experimentation:

...hope you can stop by the Open House!
Thanks,
Quinn

Upcoming classes and events:

3/7 Family Drop-In for family members ages 2 and up. 10:30-11:30a.m. $10 per person.

3/14 Open House. Free Workshops for the whole family, open studios, and student shows. Kids' activities from 12-3.

3/14 Family Workshop: Spring Bunnies for ages 5+. 2-4pm. $25/children $30/adults.

3/28 Free workshop for parents regarding how to nurture your child's creativity featuring Quinn Hunter, Glynnis Lessing, and Melanie Brown. Please call to register for this free workshop.

Ongoing: Registration has begun for Spring classes and Summer Camps.

Call 773.769.4226 or go to: www.lillstreet.com to register and receive additional information.

Welcome!

2009-02-23T17:42:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Kidstreet's new blog! We will be updating weekly with photos, interviews, and upcoming events so you can see what's happening in the Kidstreet studios.

We're excited to announce our first ever artist-in-residence at Kidstreet, Quinn Hunter. Quinn has been getting to know teachers, parents, and students and will be leading a free workshop for parents regarding children's creativity at the end of March. Quinn joins us from Los Angeles, California and is currently working on a Master of Science degree in child development at Erikson Institute here in Chicago. Quinn tells Lillstreet teachers that her "goal is that we can learn from each other’s interests and artistic specialties in order to support the growth of our talented young artists. I believe this can happen by emphasizing the process, not the final product. Although, what's most important is to have FUN while making art...That includes all of us, not just the kids! "

Kidstreet has always been a process-oriented art program, and we have all enjoyed the process of getting together to talk about the best way to guide our students of different ages. Quinn has sparked a renewed excitement and communication amongst our teachers and we are so happy to have her here!

Quinn's update:

Hi Kidstreet artists and families! Welcome to our new blog. We hope this site will become a forum where you can read more about what we do at Kidstreet and view images of our wonderful young artists at work. Please feel free to comment on our weekly posts...

I have begun a long-term photography project in an effort to better document all the exciting things that happen in our children's studios at Lillstreet, so stay tuned for lot's of photo updates. Thanks! We look forward to reading your comments...

From, Quinn

Upcoming events:
2/28 Family Drop In. Saturdays from 10:30-11:30. A clay class for the whole family! $10/per person.

3/2 Holiday Camps for ages 5-12. 9am-3:30pm. $65/per person.

3/14 Open House. Free Workshops for the whole family, open studios, and student shows. Kids' activities from 12-3.

3/14 Family Workshop: Spring Bunnies for ages 5+. 2-4pm. $25/children $30/adults.

3/28 Free workshop for parents regarding how to nurture your child's creativity featuring Quinn Hunter, Glynnis Lessing, and Melanie Brown.

Ongoing: Registration has begun for Spring classes and Summer Camps.

Call 773.769.4226 or go to: www.lillstreet.com to register and receive additional information.

Check back next week for a new update!

Best,

Melanie, Quinn, and the Kidstreet crew.