Mid-July marked the return of the Woodson Art Museum’s popular Summer Art Sessions for young artists ages five through eight and nine through twelve. Abundant Future’s cultivated plant subjects and artist Ginny Ruffner’s imagined botanical landscape served as inspiration for half-day sessions of art making in the Museum’s classroom studio and sculpture garden. The younger “Micro-Greens” worked in two-dimensions while older participants focused on three-dimensional projects.
Summer Art Session participants search Ginnny Ruffner artworks for ideas and answers during a scavenger hunt in the galleries.
A walk through the Museum’s sculpture garden with our younger participants was the perfect setting for an interactive art lesson. Museum educator Rachel Hausmann-Schall talked to the group about composition before passing out “view finders” during our garden walk. By isolating scenes and features outside, students recognized how key the placement of visual elements is when creating a design.
“View finders” served as great props for a group photo, too.
Each Mico-Green artist created two paintings during their Tuesday and Wednesday Art Sessions, using washes of watered-down paint, custom stamps based on original drawings, and bespoke stencils.
After first layers of color were added to canvas, students used homemade stamps to add an additional layer of interest to their paintings.
Older Art Session artists created colorful botanical collages and sculptures of invented plant species and seedpods after viewing examples brought in from outside and illustrations of different means of seed dispersal. Using foam, paper, glue, wire, and more, participants experimented and troubleshooted to determine what combinations of materials were the best match for their creative visions.
Botanical sculpture projects take shape in the Museum’s classroom studio.
This summer’s Art Session experiences were an exhilarating and rewarding whirlwind of creative engagement. Following a two-year hiatus, I was relieved I could keep up with such ambitious groups of young artists.
Micro-Green artists’ paintings made for an impressive salon-style installation.
Stop by the Woodson Art Museum now through August 21, to see the fruits (poor pun intended) of this talented bunches’ (sorry; not sorry) efforts.
Inventive plant-themed sculptures created by older Summer Art Session participants are on view for visitors to enjoy.
