Creative Classes

*Price includes a $30 Studio Fee for all materials provided.

Class Description:

Whether using paper or fabric, collage has long been practiced by women, people of color, and those without access to a formal art education. In this class, we will examine the history of collage as an outsider art – how women and people of color used material at hand (paper and fabric scraps, for example) to create visual expressions that resonate powerfully today. Students will be asked to channel the spirit of these artists (many of whom remain unidentified) in creating their own works of art from the materials of daily life. The instructor will bring her expertise in history and collage to help students explore this vibrant and accessible art form.

What to Expect:

This class begins with a short presentation of the history of collage as an outsider art, and will include a visit to the Art of the Ancient Americas gallery for inspiration. Students will be asked to find three elements from pieces in the collection to inspire their collage composition. We will examine Enrique Chagoya's Borders of the Spirit in the Art of the Ancient Americas gallery as a way to consider how collage is a powerful medium for exploring identity.

Class Cancellation Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

All materials will be provided for this workshop and are included in the Studio Fee of $30.

Educator:

Teresa Cribelli started her art career in the archive; inspired by the historical documents she used in her academic research in Brazil, she became interested in the ways that collage can bring the past and the present together. While living in Brazil she was also inspired by the wheat paste street art of Rio de Janeiro. Part of Rio’s vibrant street art culture, wheat paste posters (graphic art printed on paper and pasted to walls) became a type of open-air collective collage she watched for on her daily commute. Inspired by the outsider artists who make street art, she began collecting and then experimenting with vintage papers to make her own collages. Bringing her training as a historian to her practice (she taught Latin American History at the University of Alabama for 11 years) Teresa uses her small-scale analog collages to make visual statements about power, gender, and the environment told through the lens of history. Her work has been shown at Kolaj Fest in New Orleans and Paperworkers Local in Birmingham, Alabama among other venues. Her pieces are held in private collections and in the Doug and Laurie Kanyer Art Collection. Street art pieces based on her collages can be seen in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama; Denver, Colorado; Barcelona, Spain; and São Luís, Brazil.

Class Description:

This class will focus on sound as a healing force through cross-cultural perspectives. Students will learn about meditation and sound bathing with the use of various musical instruments. Breathing techniques and body movements for healing will also be explored. Students will investigate how sound can be used in everyday life to release stress and to calm the body and mind.

What to Expect:

Students can expect to find a deeper understanding of how sound can help to heal the body and mind. No prior knowledge needed. The beginning of class will focus on discussion of the musical instruments used to help us heal. Then, we will experience sound bathing and meditation as a group. Time in galleries will explore instruments used in ceremonial practices and as healing tools by our ancestors. Lastly, students will be led through yoga positions, breath work, and mantras for healing.

Class Cancellation Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

n/a

Educator:

Cal Duran is an artist and art educator focusing on connecting with his ancestors from an Indigenous and Latinx background. His work often explores parallels between hybrid identities found in myth, religion, and ritual. Duran has shown altars, installations and artwork in museums and galleries throughout the Denver Metro area and beyond. He continues to honor his ancestors and recently created a room at Meow Wolf in Denver, honoring the indigenous tribes of Colorado and the Americas.

https://www.artbycal.com

*Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $50-100.

Class Description:

In this course, students will explore both expressive and representational techniques in watercolor, ink, and gouache. Using seasonal, botanical subjects such as branches and flowers, students will complete drawings that include texture, color, and depth. Students will learn a variety of water media techniques including stretching paper, creating washes, and building transparent vs. opaque layers. We will make connections to work in the DAM’s Asian Art Collection, including the use of value to create depth in the ink painting Bamboo by Chinese artist Zhou Zhenyue, or the use of texture and brushwork in the piece White Herons and an Old Willow by Japanese artist Kikuchi Hobun. We will also look at contemporary uses of watercolor in the Denver Art Museum collection, including watercolor drawings by Enrique Martinez Celaya and Laura Ball.

What to Expect:

This class welcomes both beginners as well as students who have some drawing or painting experience. We will visit the galleries together to discuss water media work in the DAM's collections, and then spend time learning new techniques in small studies in the classroom. Students will then use these new approaches in a larger, finished drawing from observation of botanical subjects. We will have the option to work outdoors from life in the Sensory Garden or focus indoors on our favorite houseplants or branches.

Timeline:

Class 1:

Gallery Visit to the Asian Art Collection

B&W Mark making in Ink

Stretching Paper

Class 2:

Look at images from the exhibition "Drawings from Vicki and Kent Logan Collection"

Expressive Washes in Watercolor

Layering Washes to Create Depth

Class 3:

Observational Drawing and Composition

Opacity Vs. Transparency with Gouache

Saving Whites

Class 4:

Studio Time to Finish Larger Drawing

Reflection and Conversation

Class Cancellation Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $50-100.

GET THE MATERIALS KIT AT MEININGER’S ART SUPPLY or purchase the items individually.

Educator:

Mindy Bray is a painter and muralist based in Denver, CO. Her works examine the intersection of natural and built environments. The images are reduced and transformed to create complex visual fields of shape and pattern. Based on photographs of locations such as city parks, wilderness trails and residential landscapes, the works present liminal places that trace the complex relationship between people and their habitat. Mindy earned her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Iowa in 2005 and has taught drawing and foundations at the University of Denver and Metropolitan State University. Her work has been exhibited nationally at galleries including Goodwin Fine Art, Rule Gallery and Ironton, and her work has been featured in New American Paintings, The Denver Post, Modern in Denver magazine, art ltd., and Luxe Interiors and Design. Mindy’s public commissions include permanent works at the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport and the Colorado Convention Center, and her private commissions can be found in commercial and residential spaces throughout Denver.

www.mindybray.com