Sparking Art with Kids
"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
— Rachel Carson
Sparking Art After School
Our program is two days per week for six or 12 weeks and is an experience of art exploration, self discovery, and creative expression. Students explore creativity journaling, writing and poetry, mixed media and collage, improvisation fun, costume and character, and nature arts. We focus on the questions “What is creativity?’ and “Who am I as an artist?”
Pre-registration requires one interview process with the parent, student, & teacher, and then with student & teacher (one meeting). Please email afterschool@sparkingart.com for more information and a telephone appointment. An application form is then the next step.
There are four to six students in each program. The small group size group is a welcome contrast to the school day and supports individual projects and creative partnership. In order for creativity to grow and thrive, kids need to slow down a bit to sense their own pacing. We honor preferences and differences as signs of uniqueness.
Guest teachers may occasionally provide additional instruction, such as calligraphy, eco-arts, or improvisation. We take one museum field trip and spend one or two afternoons outdoors at Shoreline Park. Other adults, student artists and/or parents, may accompany us on the field trips.
See Schedule
Testimonial
“I am very impressed with Laurel's ability and her breadth and depth of artistic knowledge. During my son's experience with Sparking Art, she inspired him to explore art media he hadn't experienced before. He created very interesting paintings and gained a basic understanding of photography. Laurel really knew how to support my son to develop his personal artistic palette.”
Leslie Levy, Mom & V.P., Marketing
Menlo Park, CA
Sparking Art Summer at Home
“My inspiration is molded by my childhood dream world of small boundaries – the perennial border of fairy tales and domesticity, summers that stretched long and unplanned at an unhurried, quiet pace.”
– Mary Kay Krell
2008 San Francisco - June and July
Sparking Art - Summer At Home and Summer at the DeYoung
Two week home-based Sparking Art Program, Monday - Friday
9am - 5pm.
For ages 9 - 13, with older siblings assisting, as available.
Also assisted by UCSC art major, Julia Friedman, age 22.
This program can serve as childcare if there is one adult
available in the home or on call for tending to operations
that might
affect this home-based art camp. The program is enhanced
with the attendance of an older sibling, grandparent or
relative.
We highly encourage intergenerational groups.
Focus One
Study of the DeYoung Museum collection, architecture, and
current exhibits. There will a number of museum visits and
activities
based in the museum interior and around the museum grounds
in Golden Gate Park. Slides of the collection and educational
materials from the deYoung will be used. Students will help
shape the nature of the program based on their interests.
Focus Two
Expressive, performing and visual arts activities inspired
by our study. Emphasis can be storytelling, visual art, stage
sets, music, whatever the group would like. Each student
is lightly coached to find personal meaning in our study
and play, but the major emphasis is on realizing the value
of fun, play, spontaneity and paying attention to individual
needs for pacing.
Focus Three
An organized presentation to parents, friends, and family
on last day of camp. This activity is improvisational, light,
and
low-pressure, and wonderful when combined with a Friday
evening dinner and celebration.
Click here for
info on PROGRAM PRESENTATIONS
Email Laurel at infospark@sparkingart.com to
find out more.
Stay tuned for upcoming photo page from past camps!
Testimonial
“Through Laurel's inspiration,
my daughter found new ways to explore her creativity. She
learned about herself, and others her age, through costumes,
character acting, story telling, free drawing and photography.
I wanted to encourage her love of art, but I also wanted
her to explore different aspects of her artistic bent,
and the class was perfect!”
Joan Grant, Mom & Attorney
San Mateo, CA
History of Sparking Art Summer At Home
In the past some camps have been one week long, from 9am
- 3pm, and have taken place in homes where a family
has
space
to host
4 – 8
kids, whose ages fall in a three-year age range. It’s
ideal for parents who can bring work home and be close to
the lives of their kids but still have to get work done.
The one-week art camp-at-home came into being as a delightful
alternative to going away to camp. Sometimes there are special
kids and certain summers when staying close to home is what
the heart and soul need. We like to make space for grandparents,
siblings or visiting cousins to drop in and share a story or
participate in an activity.
One program last summer was held in a relatively empty but clean, large, new garage, which had a built-in work table, double rolling doors opening onto the driveway, and a single rolling door opening onto the patio and pool. There were skylights and windows for good lighting. I brought in an area rug, a costume closet, and art supplies, percussion instruments, and books, and such. The host provided two folding work tables, a stereo system, a full-length mirror, and access to the pool, garden, and house when needed.
Parents accompanied us on the field trip to the Art Deco exhibit in San Francisco, lunch, and to see WPA murals of the 1930’s. This group of kids were previously acquainted with each other from school, and they had a lot of fun.
Who do you know that might have the perfect space for Sparking Art Summer at Home? I offer a significant tuition discount for the host as well as for any parent who assists in bringing together a group of students for the camp.
Holiday Crafts
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
— Albert Camus
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Fall.
Costumes, arts and crafts, paper arts, egg art, ornaments, holiday cards!
Great for intergenerational groups to prepare for any of the holidays all through the year. Some workshop ideas are designed and scheduled by Laurel, and others are generated by clients. Craft workshops and private consulting available upon request.
Please email infospark@sparkingart.com if you are interested in a private contract at your home, a small group at the studio, or an alternate location.
See Schedule
Museum-a-Month Field Trips
San Francisco Bay Area
“Sometimes I look at a painting by another artist and I see a universal language that we're both trying to express. I feel that we're on the same path, that we share the same intentions, and that's inspiring to me.”
— Birgit O'Connor
This program is contracted with parent coordination, accompaniment and transportation. If you are a parent who would like to assist and coordinate in exchange for one tuition, for more information…
Please email infospark@sparkingart.com.
See Schedule
See more Sparking Art programs:
Creativity | Self-discovery | Kids | Healing
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