Creative Classes

*Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $20-40.

Class Description:

Craftivism is simply craft + activism. In this class, we will use textiles to create our own soft sculptures, protest tapestries about a cause that matters to you, and positive affirmation embroideries. Students will learn sewing and embroidery techniques to create works about things you care about. The textile collection of the Denver Art Museum has several works of craftivism and we will also look at those to understand what craftivism is and how simple it is to do! Beginners are welcome. Don't be intimidated by sewing. This course will make it simple and meaningful.

What to Expect:

During class, we will mostly be creating. We will be making 3 different artworks: soft sculptures of the word "No" to help remind us to keep healthy boundaries in our lives, fabric tapestries about a cause or topic that matters to you personally, and hand embroidered positive affirmations. After this class, you will know 3 new ways of creating work that is personal and meaningful to you using fabric and sewing techniques. Beginners are welcome. No prior experience necessary.

Timeline:

Class 1: introduction to soft sculpture and creation of our own soft sculptures

Class 2: Look at the work of Aram Han Sifuentes in the textiles collection of the Denver Art Museum, and begin creating our own protest tapestries

Class 3: Finish tapestries and begin embroidery

Class 4: Finish embroidery

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.

Educator:

Charis Lillene Fleshner is a conceptual mixed media artist who completed her MFA in studio art at the University of New Mexico. Fleshner currently teaches art at Aims Community College and shows work nationally. Before starting graduate studies, Charis Lillene Fleshner used her BFA in art education from University of North Texas to teach junior high and elementary art for seven years. Her studio practice currently focuses on painting, soft sculpture, Craftivism, and the intersections of Feminism and art.

charismakesart.com

*Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $30-70.

Class Description:

In this class we will explore drawing fundamentals in an accelerated form. We will use the fundamentals to explore within the museum as we sketch from art within the galleries. We will conclude with creating individual pieces from the skills built and research sketches. The intent of this class is to bring each artist through the entire process of researching and creating a completed piece of work.

What to Expect:

Artists will learn or in some cases relearn fundamental skills mixed with some tricks of the trade to help them work within the museum to sketch and generate ideas as well as take those ideas in to the studio to complete a finished project.

Timeline:

Week 1 – Learning the fundamentals

Week 2 - Learning the fundamentals

Week 3 – Gathering sketches and ideas in the museum’s galleries

Week 4 - Gathering sketches and ideas in the museum’s galleries

Week 5 – Drawing in the classroom

Week 6 - Drawing in the classroom

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 $30-70.

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

Educator:

Born in Denver in 1972, Michael Dowling spent much of his early life as a typical kid apart from being an obsessive drawer. It wasn’t until the age of 25, and after several years studying various subjects as well as working in many fields, that Michael started painting. With that late beginning, Dowling dove full in and began studying extensively. At 28, he decided to sell a burgeoning art sales company and moved to Florence, Italy to focus on painting. He has since returned to his native Denver where he lives and works.

Michael Dowling's work has been characterized as a combination of traditional practices in realism and his explorations of mark, pattern, and color to disrupt that reality. In many compositions, figures presented as portrait, morph into their surreal self, and lone objects tell stories through their subtle positioning. These objects and characters sit in bizarre spaces with intentionally disrupted atmospheres in order to find further meaning within the imagery.

https://m2lr.com/artists/72-michael-dowling/