Art Starts
Join leading teaching artists in creative workshops in and around Union Station in Washington, D.C. May 30th and 31st
All events are free and open to the public. As there are limited spaces available at each Art Starts workshop, these will be allocated on a first come first served basis. For groups of 10 or more children, a reservation is strongly suggested. Please contact Kirsten Kedzierski at VSA arts to make a reservation by calling 202.628.2800 or e-mailing KAKedzierski@vsarts.org.
Labyrinths with Sandra Wasko-Flood
Sandra Wasko-Flood will lead workshops in labyrinths, building on traditional and Medieval designs from early mythological structures. In these workshops, children will decorate labyrinth templates using colors and shapes, design scarves using labyrinth designs and other messages of peace, and experience walking through a unique large-scale labyrinth.
Sandra Wasko-Flood is president of Living Labyrinths for Peace. She is a visionary artist, teacher, and labyrinth builder. Having studied art at the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Wisconsin?Madison, and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her prints—photo etchings and monotypes—are in numerous local and international collections. In 1991, she created Dance of the Labyrinth, an interactive installation of computer-programmed light boxes. Sandra conducts programs in Washington area schools where children create labyrinths, walk through them, and make wishes for peace.
Tiara and Crown Making with Karen Brown
Drawing on inspiration from history and the present day, each child will design and create a tiara or crown. They will be encouraged to use recycled objects from everyday life, inspiring their individual creativity.
Karen O. Brown is a visual artist and teacher. Karen’s extensive international travels in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Central and South America inform and enrich her imaginative approach to teaching and personal expression. Karen’s education includes graduate studies in textiles, ceramics, sculpture, 3-D and surface design, bookmaking, and photography. Her passionate enthusiasm for improving the environment comes through in her use of recycled materials and creative solutions to going green. Karen’s work as a professional artist includes permanent installations at Children’s National Medical Center, the D.C. Commission for the Arts, and the Washington Convention Center. A Kennedy Center master teaching artist, Karen also teaches through the Smithsonian Institution and Washington Performing Arts Society. Karen’s welcoming approach to teaching draws students in as they discover the joys of artistic exploration.
Poetry Beading with Heather Stemas and Nora Stinley
Join Heather and Nora for workshops inspired by simple poetry and children’s stories. Using a simple narrative as a starting point, children will design beading that combines colorful and fun word and picture beads.
Heather Stemas is a painter and collage artist whose artwork has been seen in Artitude magazine, the Kensington, Maryland art fair, and the Metamorphosis art show in Fairfax, VA. Heather joined Children’s National Medical Center’s Arts and Healing program as an arts program specialist in April 2003. Hailing from Michigan, Heather completed a BA in visual arts and English literature from Albion College, and an M.Ed with a specialization in art therapy at Wayne State University in Detroit. She has worked with many individuals from young adults with developmental disabilities, to residents of a geriatric health care facility, and currently, children and adolescents with chronic, acute, and psychiatric illnesses. From these opportunities she has witnessed and experienced the healing power of art and creative expression. Some of the work she has done with patients has been published in Creative Forecasting magazine, and exhibited at WVSA ARTs connection.
Nora Stinley is an art therapist and visual artist in the Washington, D.C. area. Nora began her career in arts and healing as an undergraduate at the George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C. While receiving her bachelor’s degree in psychology, Nora joined the New Horizons team at Children’s National Medical Center. She continued her studies in art therapy as her career with Children’s advanced; she is now the project consultant for a collaborative healing arts project between Children’s National Medical Center and The Phillips Collection museum in Washington, D.C. Nora received her master’s degree from GWU in 2006. As a visual artist, she works with a variety of media, creating three-dimensional sculptures as well as two-dimensional pieces. She has exhibited at many unconventional sites, including Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., as well as Peace and a Cup of Joe in Baltimore, Maryland.
Puppet Making with Eric Brooks
In these workshops children will design their own brown bag puppets. Drawing on imagination and using a variety of art materials, each child will be able to give his or her puppet a distinctive personality.
Having now completed a master's degree in puppetry, Eric currently holds a full-time contract with The Puppet Company in Glen Echo Park, Maryland. There, he applies his academic studies toward a daily list of puppet construction, performances, composition, and set construction. You can see some of his latest creations at the Atlas Theatre, located in Washington, D.C. in the popular children's story-made-play, Good Night Moon, taking place during June 2008. Eric is honored to be a part of VSA arts’ festival activities and looks forward to future projects serving the D.C. metropolitan area.
Creative Percussion with Victoria Paytonwebber
Using a variety of traditional and nontraditional drums as well as other tools such as pots, pans, water bottles, and other vibrating vessels, children will explore the sounds and rhythms of these fascinating instruments.
Victoria Paytonwebber is the musical director of the Holistic Harp Ensemble and Music Conservatory located in Temple Hills, Maryland. She studied classical and jazz piano with great instructors such as Marva Cooper, Calvin Jones Sr., and harpists Barbara Seidman and Sharon Strange. As a harpist, Victoria is dedicated to promoting harp music and improvisational performances for the purpose of healing the body, mind, and spirit. As a lecturer and instructor, she has taught for private and public schools in Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County, Maryland with special education curriculums. She has also been featured as a workshop facilitator for local and national musical association conferences and other professional organizations. In her drumming workshops, she uses a range of rhythm and percussion techniques to release the sounds and vibrations hidden in each drum.
Storytelling with ASL with Denise Kight and Judi Rockhill
Denise and Judi will bring well-loved stories to life with their presentation. Using both English and American Sign Language, these stories will be accessible to all children.
Denise Kight a dually, nationally certified (CI & CT) sign language interpreter, has worked in the field for 25 years. Denise has been working in partnership with two landmark theaters for children’s entertainment in the Washington D.C. area for almost 15 years. She feels very fortunate being able to provide interpreting services for the patrons of The Puppet Company and Adventure Theatre, both located in Glen Echo Park, Maryland. To have the opportunity to be part of bringing the stage to life is rewarded by seeing how fully engaged the children become as what’s happening on stage becomes their reality.
Judi Rockhill has worked as a professional sign language interpreter in the Washington, D.C. area and Philadelphia for more than 15 years, and developed a teaching program, Signing Family, to help hearing parents learn to communicate with their hearing toddlers/young children through the use of sign language. Judi and her husband had twin girls born in 2001. They began teaching their own children American Sign Language (ASL) and were amazed at the results. As their sign vocabularies grew, so did their speech. And as their children learned to communicate their needs, Judi and her husband realized that the frequency of frustrations and temper tantrums was reduced. Other parents began to notice that this was a hearing and signing family and began to ask Judi to teach their families some basic ASL signs. Thus the Signing Family enterprise was born.
(F) 202-429-0868