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Category Archives: Workshops

T-shirt Design

T-shirt Design

Every once in awhile we like to bring it back to our roots. Since 2008 we’ve been working hard printing T-shirts trying to fund this crazy dream. We’ve learned a lot along the way and we were itching to pass along our limited printing skills to willing high school artists.  With this four week session we sketched, designed and stenciled our own design. After three weeks of design and prep students printed their design onto a T-shirt. Let’s face it, there is nothing more fun than being able to make what you wear. It’s so much better than wearing name brands, when you can say  “I designed my own T-shirt!”

Poppin Bottles

Poppin Bottles

Coming off our Assemblage workshop, we were pretty fired up about re-using old stuff and making it into something beautiful. It was perfect timing for the Holland Area Art’s Council to ask us to help them out by making a chandelier made out of old pop bottles.

We started by cutting bottles into the shape of flowers.

Then spray painted each bottle all kinds of different colors

Made sure not to forget to be a little goofy. Too serious = not as much fun.

We used string to tie all the bottles together and were amazed how well the finished Chandelier turned out! The Art’s council was able to sell if for some change at their yearly fundraiser, which left us proud that we can help support the arts in our community.

Printing Ambrose Tees

Printing Ambrose Tees

Sustainable Architecture

Sustainable Architecture

This week we walked a couple of blocks down 8th street to visit CityFlats Hotel, the first Hotel in the Midwest to achieve LEED Gold Certification.  That means that CityFlats focuses on energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. We got to experience first hand the way they creatively implement those ideas. The impeccably designed hotel is never boring, each room is different and individually designed.

Assemblage

Assemblage

Assemblage: a collection or gathering of things or people, a work of art made by grouping found or unrelated objects or the action of gathering or fitting things together.


Inspired by a visit to Rick Weese’s Studio, we gathered found objects, stuff that was sitting in our basements and old trash and set to work making it into something beautiful.Toilets, floppy disks and glue were put to good use as we sculpted and dreamed of creative ways to re-use objects.