Materials wait to be turned into art at Second Saturday.
Second Saturday’s Art Laboratory gives young artists and their families everything they need to create cool art
Experimentation can lead to inspiration, and inspiration can lead to great art. And there’s no better place to experiment than in a laboratory!
Welcome to Art Laboratory!
In our August Second Saturday, 12-3 p.m. this Saturday (Aug. 14), we provide the materials and let the burgeoning young artists have at it. There are no barriers in Art Laboratory except the laws of physics. No rules, just tons of crepe paper, cardboard, duct tape, string and other raw materials that can be turned into a suit of armor, a towering skyscraper, a model of the moon or anything else under the sun.
“We're opening a few of our studio spaces, and we're going to be utilizing the Creative Lounge,” said Christine Gibson, manager of Youth and Family Programs. “One of the studios will be mostly about cardboard and all the fun things you can do with cardboard, the next one may be messier arts and another one is all the different types of paper. It's really just an opportunity for families to come in and create whatever they want, using select specific tools and materials.”
This will be the first Second Saturday to take place in our classroom studios, so young artists will have the chance to create in the same spaces where artists of all ages make art every day. That will not be the only source of inspiration – we’re providing an ample supply of books, video and friendly instruction to get you on your way.
“It's a very open-concept type of Second Saturday, but we'll have tons of inspiration,” Gibson said. “We have plenty of books for people to look through. We're planning to do a PowerPoint that will play on the TVs, and we’ll get inspiration from contemporary artists, including the artists that we have and show here. We think people will enjoy using a lot of the materials we’ve found — some of the things I'm sure they haven't used before — because it's an opportunity for them to explore new art.”
Kids make colorful art.
Plenty of helpers will be on hand to help artists of any age develop their ideas. Whether it is building upon inspiration or pointing out the best tools and materials to make it happen, there will be plenty of friendly guidance.
“We're also going to have studio assistants, and they're kind of helping them find inspiration if they get feel like they get stuck. A trained instructor that we use for our camps who works a lot in 3-D will also be here,” Gibson said. “She’ll help anybody along who needs an extra push or pro tips.”
Second Saturday no longer requires timed tickets to attend —drop by any time between 12 and 3 p.m. To keep everyone safe, we’ll monitor the number of visitors in each indoor space as part of our COVID precautions. All staff, visitors and students (vaccinated or unvaccinated) over the age of 2 should wear masks inside. All that safety will let the young artists focus on their new duct-tape-and-coffee-filter suits or their models of Jeff Bezos’ rocket or their cardboard Mona Lisa. Really, the possibilities are endless.
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