MLK Day of Service - Chattanooga, TN (1.16.17)
We had amazing MLK Day of Service volunteers help the Art 120 team recover and clean items from the 2016 Thanksgiving Day Fire that sadly destroyed our Southside facilities. With support from our community, we're re-building!
For now, we have several temporary homes, one of which is at our partner's property, The Howard School, who has given us office space in an extra gym. A week before the MLK Day of Service, Art 120 and volunteers helped a local, Deshel Hambrick, and owner of 4Ever Young, move out of a space she used to manage and sell her clothing and toy inventory, into a new space off-site. Volunteers from P52, Covenant College's Launch Program, Unum, and even the Mayor's office, came out to support us and our fight to continue to provide arts education and STE(A)M opportunities to Chattanooga!
Painting With A Twist's #PaintingWithAPurpose Fundraiser for Art 120 on January 14, 2017!
With YOUR help we raised $500+ at this event! These participants painted away the afternoon with generous and sparkling smiles!
Our friends at Painting With A Twist (PWAT) graciously offered to host a #PaintingWithAPurpose class benefiting our programs, after our Education Coordinator, Hannah Hahn, who also works at Painting With A Twist (PWAT) part time, told them about the fire that destroyed Art 120's facilities on Thanksgiving Day, 2016. On January 14th, the 3 hour class featured the painting pictured here, with a wintery twist on Vincent Van Gogh's famous style. So "Gogh" to their PWAT studio with a friend or your family and have a great time tapping into your creative side!
We also have some gift certificates valued at $35.00, and if you want extra art to hang in your home, and you can choose from paintings donated by PWAT's owners! You can email edu@art120.org if you are interested in a gift certificate purchase or a particular piece of PWAT artwork benefiting Art 120 (the paintings' images can be found here). THANK YOU to Painting With A Twist - Chattanooga, TN!
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Thank You Chattanooga Firefighters
It has been a very emotional Thanksgiving to say the least. We are so grateful that no one was in the building when the fire broke out. A huge thank you goes out from us at Art 120 to Chattanooga's Firefighters who spent the entire night preventing this blaze from spreading to the other homes and businesses in the area. The creative team at Hippopotamus took this amazing footage of the scene. It really brings home what is important, everything inside was just stuff at the end of the day. Our kids, our volunteers, our staff, our partners, and our donors are what really make Art 120. We could not serve over 3,000 children a year without you. Help us continue by making a donation today.
ART 120'S FIRST ANNUAL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS MERCADO!
If you didn't stop by 1511 Williams Street on October 29th for some festival fun, you missed out, my friend! We teamed up with Culture Philanthropy, local artists, musicians, storytellers, craftspeople, makers, and vendors to provide a unique learning experience to support Chattanooga’s Latino and maker community! We also hosted a community altar build, with items like candles, flowers, and figurines decorating it to honor community members' loved ones! Visit our gallery to check it out!
We are held an Art Exhibition and Supplies Drive for our friends and neighbors, The Howard School! ELLA Chattanooga, Unifi-Ed, the HART Gallery, the Hunter Museum, Red Bank High School's Spanish Club, La Paz, Bess T. Sheperd, California Smothered Burrito, and Ayelet's Mexican Syles also joined us! Artists Jason Doan, Christina Thongnopnua, Hannah Alysse Hahn, Paul McRae, WriteSpeakSee's Tracy Tanner, East Hamilton's Doug Boals, and Cassie Joy Terpening, exhibited and sold their artwork, and if you'd like to view or purchase their work and contact them, click their names to follow a link for their information.
Visit our Facebook event page and Eventbrite to learn more! Look for Art 120 in Nooga.com's 2016 Halloween Event Guide!
We wish you all the best and look forward to educating and engaging Chattanooga, together!
Python, Ballet, Mozilla, and Pi - Oh My!
What do you get when you cross the gig with The Chattanooga Ballet, Python, and a Raspberry Pi? A Music Genie, of course! Thanks to support from the Mozilla Gigabit Fund, Art 120 is bringing in Dan Mailman to teach a special summer program where students will each learn how to code a Raspberry Pi to become reactive to motion in a 3D environment.
At the end of the course, all twenty Raspberry Pis will work together, creating an environment that will allow dancers from the Chattanooga Ballet to create music, images, and lights as they dance. The class is open on a first come, first served basis. There is a class fee of $100 and students will own their Raspberry Pi upon completion of the class. Scholarships are available to students based on need.
You can also learn as you go by volunteering to assist with the class. This is a perfect opportunity for fellow makers and teachers in the community. Click here to volunteer on our general interest volunteer form!
Normal Park Gets The Art Bike Bug!
We were so happy to help Emily Simpson, the Art Teacher from Normal Part Magnet School, work on her Hubble Space Telescope Art Bike project together with her students! We cannot wait to work on even more projects with Emily and her amazing students! We had a great opportunity to ask Emily a few questions about her process.
1. What inspired you to make an Art Bike with your class?
While I think it is important for my students to learn about the classics, I also think it is imperative for them to learn about contemporary artists and art practices. On top of that, I try to give my students opportunities to be involved in the art community whether it be in Chattanooga or somewhere further away as well as opportunities to work together as a team. Building an art bike would give them the chance to learn about a contemporary art practice, the chance to be involved in the flourishing local arts scene, and a peek into the realm of collaboration.
2. What is the theme of your Art Bike, how did it come to fruition, and how did you work the creation of an Art Bike into your curriculum?
At Normal Park Museum Magnet, a lot of what our students do in their related arts classrooms is directly tied to what they're learning in their classrooms. This gives them multiple opportunities to explore as well as solidify their learning and understand it in a new and/or deeper way. With that being said, in the art room, the students create based on the visual arts curriculum as well as their classroom curriculum. Our projects come to fruition through many collaborative opportunities that we have with the grade level teams. Through much research and collaboration, we decided to tie in parts of their science curriculum. At the time they were covering inventions in space, weather, magnets, force and motion, and sound. Hence our choice of space, weather, and sound as our themes.
3. How have the kids responded to creating an art bike?
My 3rd grade students were so intrigued by the idea. Kate came to talk to our students about art bikes and there were so many "ooo's" and "ahh's" when they were shown videos of the bikes being ridden. I can't tell you how many times I heard,"Woah, Ms. Simpson! How did they do that?!" It really peaked their interest. They were EXTREMELY curious and wondered how we were going to make our bike and when. They immediately had so many ideas. As they were working, the students responded very well to the sculptural processes. Some of them had never used a hammer or needle nose pliers before, but met the challenge head-on and succeeded!
4. What has the process of creating your Art Bike been like?
As teachers, we try to plan as much as humanly possible to insure the success of our students and our success in the classroom. I try to think about each project from a lot of different angles. Where will the students hit a "bump in the road"? What parts will be challenging? What material will be best suited for that process? The list could go on and on. I like to have a plan that is bullet proof. Well, in the art room things can sometimes shift trajectory at a moment's notice. This definitely happened with the art bike. Not only did the students experience more trial and error, but I experienced that as well which was a little uncomfortable for me. I like to have a plan. But, that's one of the perks of art education - learning how to fail and learning how to problem solve immediately following. It was a real treat to come alongside the students and problem solve together.
The bike as a whole is being made to look like the Hubble Telescope. This decision came directly from some preliminary brainstorming and sketching sessions with my 3rd Grade Advanced Art students. If you have ever seen pictures of the Hubble telescope, there is a smooth section and a section with dimples in it. Some of the 3rd grade students hammered a large portion of a roll of aluminum flashing to add the same sort of texture seen on the outer layer of the telescope. Another class listened to a sound recording of a thunder clap and drew a visual representation of the sound in the form of a sound wave. The next day, another class came in and bent wire in the shape of the sound waves drawn by the previous class. There were also days when our main focus was solely cutting aluminum cans into 3 separate pieces in order for other classes to use them for mini satellites that would stick out from the art bike. One of the last things the students did was to spray paint the bike to look like outer space - specifically to represent one of the most well known composite pictures ever taken by the Hubble Telescope. Once the students created all of the "bits and pieces", it was then my turn to assemble, which means more problem solving, measuring, problem solving again, cutting and welding, which I love. I couldn't have done it without the help and expertise of the Art 120 crew. The bike is now in process of being assembled so that it can be ridden in the 2016 Art Car Parade!
5. What has been the best part of creating an Art Bike?
Pinpointing one favorite part is a real challenge. One of my most favorite moments, though, was seeing a student that isn't always so jazzed up about being in the art room stepping up and being a leader for the whole classroom. He ended up being one of the main problem solvers on how we would cut apart the aluminum cans and put them together to create the mini satellites. I loved seeing him so passionate about creating and teaching his classmates.
Join Us, Make Hovercrafts, & Have Fun!
What's more fun than robots? Hovercrafts of course! And on Friday, January 15th from 4-6pm, YOU can make one while helping others for MLK Day of Caring. Join our Maker Ed team so we can make this fun-based STEAM project with the Boys and Girls Club of Highland Park. You will show each kid how to build their own mini hovercraft from foam insulation, a balloon, and a straw. Children will have time to personalize their craft before entering it in the hovercraft race. All supplies are provided. Volunteers will just need to attend a short class at the Southside Maker Arts Center prior to the big day and meet up around 3:30pm at The Boys and Girls Club on January 15th. Your help with this hands-on activity will make a big difference for these kids. To volunteer, sign up at www.art120.org/volunteer.
Support a Child, Give 5
This year, we've joined forces with other local non-profits in support of a city wide day of giving. What makes this day special is the impact just a few dollars can make on a child's future. At Art 120, every $5 allows a child to receive a special in-school field trip to engage their minds and stir their imaginations.
Please consider making a donation today.
Help us Reach a School Near YouSince we started the Art-Car-A-Van in 2011, we have inspired over 14,000 elementary schoolchildren in Hamilton County and countless others on parade day. Help us reach more for 2015.
Art 120 Open House: Cooking With STEAMSupporting our children is the key to Chattanooga's economic future. Joins us for our Howard Student Art Exhibit & open house for Mainx24 from 2-6pm. Christmas cheer provided by the Howard Choir.
Pop Hop Artist Showcase: Catherine Stetson
Next up on our Pop Hop Artist Showcase is the illustrious Catherine Stetson!
Boy Decending-Assending a Staircase by Catherine Stetson
Here's more about Catherine in her own words:
Growing up I did not think I could be an artist. I didn't draw very well. I blame my inability to see three-dimensionally. It wasn't until I discovered photography my senior year of college that I realized that I am an artist. Until then, I was a victim of the popular misconception that artists had to draw what they saw. Once I had my epiphany, the entire world of art changed for me. Later as an educator, I made it my mission to show my students that making art was so much more than drawing. I wanted them to feel the freedom to express and envision new things that creativity gave me.
1. How did you start creating art?
When I was young I didn't know I was making art, but looking back I know that is what I was doing. I made my own paper dolls and spend hours "coloring." I also created this funny character that was a cowboy made from a heart. I put him everywhere. I even made greeting cards with him on it. Later, when I got my first camera as a teenager, most of my photos were optical illusions. I would make my friends stand in the foreground with their arm out like they were holding a tray of food. I would send another person down the street to make it look like they were a little person standing on a hand. I loved playing with space!
I Concur by Catherine Stetson
I Concur by Catherine Stetson
2. Who is your favorite artist and why?
My first favorite artist was Vincent Van Gogh. His use of color, texture and expression showed me that there was a whole lot more than meets the eye. My favorite photographer is Minor White. His black and white images are the essence of formal photography. They appear clean and simple, but are truly adventurous and full of content.
3. Do you have any interesting or funny stories you'd like to share?
I got my first camera (Kodak Instamatic) when I was 14 years old. My father, who early in his career was once a male model, gave me instructions that every photo I take should have a person in it. You may notice quite quickly, people are rarely the subject of my photos. Sorry Dad!
4. What is your favorite tool you use to create your art?
I am a photographer, so using a camera is my main tool, however I must say that time and space are my favorite tools. I am compelled to capture that delicate relationship they, along with light, make in my photography.
Man Ray Was Here by Catherine Stetson
5. What inspires you?
I am inspired by creativity, especially when someone thinks out of the box. I am thrilled when I see something clever and a bit risky. I think about how Van Gogh, Man Ray and Duchamp must have been perceived as crazy! Their journeys are inspirational to me.
Thanks so much Catherine! And if you're as gobsmacked as we are with her work, come get one for yourself Tomorrow, Sept. 12 at the Southside Maker Arts Center!