Spring and Summer 2026

Hi Everyone-
Happy Almost Spring! I know there is snow but the birds are singing their hearts out in the morning and the daylight is longer.
Thanks for your patience in waiting for art camp dates. I remember the puzzle of summer with kids- camps, vacation, work schedules! It’s a miracle when it all works out. Hope you can participate this summer!

Spring Classes 2026

The spring session will be shorter than usual- 6 weeks only. I will continue with the Monday and Tuesday classes. The classes are mixed age, 5-11 yrs. Projects are designed for children to take them in the direction they need to go based on their age, experience and temperament. We use a variety of 2D and 3D materials. It’s our habit in the spring to get outside as much as possible and expand our painting possibilities!

Here are the dates:

6 Mondays 3:30-5pm: 4/27, 5/4, 5/11, 5/18, no class Memorial Day 5/25, 6/1, 6/8
6 Tuesdays 3:30-5pm: 4/28, 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, 5/26, 6/2

Fee: $150 for the 6 class session

To Register: Send me an email with your class preference and your child’s date of birth.

If you have not been taking classes this school year let me know and I will send you the contact information form. Please send it to me before the session starts. If your child has any challenges participating in group classes please send me an email for a conversation. If there are any medical conditions please include them in the form below. If you have questions please let me know!

Summer Art Camp 2026

Please find All the information below about art camp. Start with the art camp 2026 document. Let me know if you have questions!

As most of you know I hire high school/college assistants for my weeks of Art Camp. I will be sending information to my list of former assistants but if you have an older child that is interested let me know!

Mornings 9-12

July 13-17
July 20-24
July 27-31
August 24-28

Thanks,

Ann  

Winter Art Classes 2026

Hello Everyone -

I hope your Thanksgiving Weekend has been full of family and good cheer!

The Fall session at A Room for Art is almost at an end. We had a loose theme of Home/Shelter/inside- Outside/ in between spaces. The classes did great a job of taking a starting point and running with it! We worked with watercolor paint, tempera paint, cardboard, paper clay, recycled packing material, cut paper and foam core.

 Please find children and adult classes and open studios for families below.

Fall 2025

 

Winter Art 2026

Children’s Classes: 

8 classes
Monday 1/5, 1/12, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/23, 3/2, 3/9 (no class 1/19 MLK, 2/16 Feb break) 3:30-5pm
Tuesday 1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/24, 3/3 (no class 2/17 Feb break) 3:30-5pm

Fee: $200 for 8 classes
To Register- Send me an email with class preference, child’s name and D.O.B. and I will send you contact information paperwork (only if you haven’t done so this school year 2025-6) 

Adult Workshops
Watercolor/Print
2 sets of 3 classes
Thursdays 1/22, 1/29, 2/5 and 2/26, 3/5, 3/12
7-9pm
You are welcome to sign up for either set of 3 or the whole session for 6

Fee: $75 for 3 classes, $125 for 6 classes

We will alternate between experimenting with watercolor paint and paper and simple printmaking techniques. We’ll print on watercolor washes, paint into prints and invent other sequences. With a lot of time to go a direction of your own we’ll start with a few simple drawing/ painting/printing exercises.

Open Studios

Wednesdays 1/7, 2/4, 3/4
4-5:30pm
Everyone welcome to come and make art with materials available. Children under 5 with a caregiver.
Let me know you are coming one or two days before
Fee: $5, $10 max per family

Hope to see you soon! (see the header of the home page of this blog for contact information and location of the studio)

Ann

Fall Art 2025 Children's Classes and Adult Workshops

Fall Art 2025 still enrolling!

I hope you are enjoying the cool nights and mostly sunny days as we approach the fall equinox! I have been lucky to be at LexFarm during the fall harvest season. Everywhere you look there is color and texture! Check out their website for children’s programs, events of adults and families and farm store hours.
https://lexfarm.org/

Fall Classes 
Monday and Tuesday classes for 5-11 year olds 3:30-5pm starting October 6 still enrolling.

Open Studios Wed 4-5:30 10/8, 11/5, 12/3
For families and friends. Make art together or drop off children older than 5yrs 
$5 fee, $10 max for families.
Let me know you are coming!

Monoprint Workshop for Adults 
4 Thursdays 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20 7-9pm
$100 all materials included

For experienced printers who want to experiment without a press and beginners. No experience necessary

We will spend the first 2 classes using different surfaces (‘plates’- anything you apply pigment to and make prints from) like plexiglass, cardboard, foam sheets, styrofoam. We will do as much as we can with simple tempera paint, then use more viscous block printing ink.



For the last 2 classes we'll use geli plates, both the real ones made from gelatin and the synthetic reusable ones and continue with the block printing ink. All the pigments are water soluble.

You will go home with lots of prints for collage, cards or mixed media

The Experiments!
Masking
Ghost prints
Layering
Registering paper

The possibilities are endless! 

Thanks
Ann

Fall Art Classes 2025

Hello to All!
Happy August!

balls and tubes art camp 2025

Here we are again with another Fall approaching. Every summer I have to relearn that it is really only 2 months! I hope it has been a good one for all.

I am offering classes on Mondays and Tuesdays again. Open Studios will be on Wednesday but at 4pm instead of 3:30.

I will send out information about Adult Workshops soon.


Fall Children’s Classes: 5-11 years
Each class will start with an invitation to a project. We’ll work together on that and then have some playtime in the studio or backyard, weather permitting.

Monday 3:30-5pm 10/6, (no class 10/13 Canadian Thanksgiving), 10/20, 10/27, 11/3, 11/10, 11/17, 11/24, 12/1
Tuesday 3:30-5pm 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 11/25

Fees: $200 for 8 classes

To Register: Send me an email with your child’s full name, DOB, class preference. I will send you paperwork. If this is your first time at the studio send me the contact information I will send you, if you are a returning student bring the first day.

Open Studios: 3 Wednesdays 4-5:30pm 10/8, 11/5, 12/3

This is a time for families and friends to use the studio and available materials to make art together. Children under 5 years are welcome with a caregiver. For children dropped off who are not currently in my classes need to bring an emergency contact number. Adults are welcome to stay and play.

Let me know you are coming!
$5 drop in fee, maximum for a family $10

Look forward to seeing you in the fall. 

Good Luck with your scheduling!

Ann

Summer Art Camp 2025

Art Camp 2025 

The great art of bubble catching Art Camp 2024

Week 1 July 16
Week 2 July 23
Week 3 August 18
Week 4 August 25

5-11 year olds.

Monday to Friday 9am to 12 noon
115 Robbins Rd
Arlington

This summer I am offering 4 weeks of camp. We work and play in my studio, backyard, new driveway! and Robbins Farm Park. Each week will have a theme that helps us exploit materials and play with the elements- sun, water, sand and art materials- paint, clay, paper, wire, cardboard, recycled packaging.

I don’t advertise the weeks with themes like ACA or ACE. Sorry! (First of all it’s still winter when ice and snow is the inspiration!) Also, I don’t think an adult’s theme does much to predict what happens in the interaction between a child and a material, the experience with the stuff. Children come with their own themes and ways of working. I have used themes to organize the gathering of materials- like Water, Light and Dark, Things that Fly, Storytelling, Earth.  I do offer a starting point and time to experiment over the course of the morning.

Art Camp 2025

What:
Summer Art Camp is a morning program for 5-11yr olds. Art projects are linked to games, stories, playful physical challenges and experimentation with elements like water, sand, clay, bubbles, earth and air. We do individual and collaborative work with a variety of 2D and 3D materials. The work is inspired by nature, fine artists, the materials themselves, and each other. It’s summer and the aim is to get wet, dirty and immersed in the elements!

When: 9am -12noon

Week 1  July 14-18
Week 2  July 21-25
Week 3 August  18-22
Week 4 August  25-29

Where:

115 Robbins Rd, Arlington

Camp will be held at the studio down the driveway to the right of the house. Door is on the left. The front door of the house does not have a bell!

We will work and play in the studio, backyard and at Robbins Farm Park

Approximate Schedule:

9:00 Gathering activity outside

9:15 Meeting and Art Project, free play

10:30 Bathroom and snack

11:00  Walk to the Park, Games (this timing is subject to weather, how much everybody needs an open space to run and the whim of all the artists involved)

OR

Free play at studio

12:00 Pickup at 115 Robbins Rd

Early Pickup: Let me know if you need to pick up your child early. You can come to the park the days we are there.

How to contact us during camp:
Ann’s cell: 781 366 5955

Drop off and Pick up: 115 Robbins Rd
 
Bring:
-water bottle
- if raining, a rain coat
-simple snack (no nuts)

Wear:
- hat
-shoes to run in(no flip flops please)
-clothes that can get dirt, paint, glue and more on them(I have smocks)
-sunscreen (please apply at home)

It is also helpful if you eat breakfast and do a bathroom visit before you come to camp! (full stomach, empty bladder)

Assistants:
I will have an assistant with me from 9-12:30 each day. They will help
me with materials, bathroom runs, cleanup and the couple of trips to the park.

The Art
Visit my blog for pictures of past projects and summer camp archives. It will give you an idea of the materials I use regularly and the kinds of activities we do at camp. During Summer Camp we will do more with the outdoors and nature for inspiration. Each week will have a loose theme to tie the activities together. Some of the projects will produce products that we can play with outside. Some projects will be collaborative and others will simply be art to look at. There will be free time to experiment with materials.

The media will be a mixture of 2D and 3D.

I’ll let you know the themes later! (Not only do I need time to get it altogether, I also think that a theme does not tell a child what camp’s going to be like) 

From a past water theme week:

fish w/c and pastel resist

 mixing a family of blues with tempera paint

pastel, spray bottles with food color

Registration! Please Read-
I am not going to take information by email rather by mail (paper). Please send me an email for a registration package that you can drop off or mail. When I receive a complete package your child will be registered.

(This way I won’t chase anyone for contact information or $ and I can think about ART!)

Fees:
$225 per week per child
$50 due at time of registration, balance due on or before 1st day of class

Sibling discount: 10% off total

The Registration Package
-contact information form
-release papers- photo and walk
-$50 deposit per child per week
-cheques payable to Ann Wynne
-I can take Venmo but there are a lot of Ann Wynnes so those of you more tech savvy can let me know how to do it efficiently.

-mailing address: 115 Robbins Rd Arlington, Ma 02476 

email: annalburywynne56@gmail.com

Spring Art Classes 2025

Hello Everyone-

I hope you are enjoying the school break! The cold and ice has been challenging but I hope you have found ways to enjoy the blue sky and brilliant winter sun. March is coming and the maple sap is already running.

oil pastel/watercolor resist

Spring Art 2025
Mondays 3:30-5pm 4/7, 4/14, 4/28, 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, 6/2, 6/9 (no class 4/21and 5/26)
Tuesdays 3:30-5pm 4/8, 4/15, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 5/27, 6/3 (no class 4/22)

In Spring we Paint! Weather permitting we will use the outdoor space to spread out and play with color and paint in all its forms!

Fees: $200 for 8 classes, sibling discount 10% off total

To Register: Send me an email with class preference, your child’s full name and age. Bring fees the first day.
If you have not been attending class here this school year please let me know and I will send you paperwork to fill out. It’s fine to bring it the first day with fees but please let me know before that if your child has any allergy/medical/ behavioral challenges that I don’t know about.

Winter Art 2025

Fall 2024 Printing

Happy Post Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful time with your family and friends.

Children’s Classes: Classes for ages 5-11 We’ll spend our time with short exercises, a project and time to choose from a variety of materials.

Looking for classes for older children? Let me know. 

Theme this winter for children’s classes is Invention with Paper and Invention with Fabric and Fibers. Structures that hang, stand or fold. We’ll sew paper and glue fabric, weave both materials, build in 2D and 3D. 

Mondays

1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27 (no class 2/3) 2/10, (February Break no class), 2/24, 3/3, 3/10

3:30 -5pm

Fee: $200 for 8 classes

Tuesdays

1/7, 1/14/ 1/21, 1/28 (no class 2/4) 2/11, (February Break no class), 2/25, 3/4, 3/11

3:30-5pm

Fee: $200 for 8 classes

Open Studios on Thursdays

Just to mix it up for the winter, open Studios will be the first Thursday of the month (except Jan which is 1/9). As always it's a time for families and friends to come and play together with materials available. Children older than 5 can be dropped off (emergency # needed) otherwise caregivers are invited to stay.

1/9, 2/6, 3/6

3:30-5pm

Fee $5, family max $15

Adult Workshops

Adults need to play too! Fall Printing 2024. We are still printing for the next 2 weeks!

New Offering! 
Peter Lehman (husband to Ann, designer and musician). Peter wants to take a break from the back log of home improvement projects in our crunchy Cape (just kidding) and workshop the curriculum he loves from art school and decades of design practice! I’ll be helping with materials and maybe playing along with the group.

Find your Inner Designer or
Searching for Albers

In this workshop we delve deeply into the foundations of design through practice based, hands-on exercises. Design, in the broadest sense, informs all the arts – and sharpening your skills through these design problems will help you see, to think visually. It’s a method to build confidence and to continue the lifelong pursue of art in any form. 

Josef Alberts was the catalyst behind the Foundations program at the Bauhaus. Many of our exercises draw from his exceptional pedagogy. It was intended for all students – painters, designers, printmakers, but also architects, fabric artists, craftspeople, set designers… This emphasis on foundational methods is our inspiration. 

The workshop, taught in the Room for Art studio spans six sessions with a potential drawing trip to local spots (e.g., the green house at LexFarm or Walter Gropius house in Concord). 

Wednesdays

1/8, 1/15, 1/22, (no class 1/29 and 2/5), 2/12, (February Break no class), 2/26, 3/5

7-9pm

Fee $120 for 6 classes

Materials included

Collage 

Back by popular demand!

Come continue exploring the many directions possible with paper and glue or come start the journey! We will do short exercises and then have time each class to play.

Thursdays

1/16, 1/23, (no class 1/30), 2/6, 2/13

7-9pm

$100 for 4 classes

Materials included

To Register: Send me an email specifying the class(es) you are interested in. I will send you the contact information paperwork for children's classes only. No deposit necessary but please let me know if your plans change after signing up.

For children’s classes please fill out contact information UNLESS you participated in the Fall session

Thanks,

Ann

Fall 2023

Happy Hallowe'en!

We are half way through the fall session. Here's what is happening at the studio. I have 2 small classes on Monday and Tuesday for school age children. There is space in both for the second half of the session.

Fall Offerings:
Art Classes Mondays and Tuesdays October- December 3:30-5pm
Classes are designed as opportunities for children to work with the experience and interest they have. Each class includes a project and free time to explore materials. 5-11 yrs

Fee: $200 for 8 classes

Mondays
10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 11/25, 12/2 ( class on 10/14 Indigenous Peoples Day)
I will have class on Veterans/Remembrance Day 11/11

Tuesdays
10/8, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, 12/3 (no class 10/15 I work at Lex Farm)

Theme for the Fall is Printing. We will take time to practice known printing techniques and try new ones. We’ll experiment with printing and multi media. Some or all of: stenciling, monoprints, collographs and styroprints.

To Register: Send me an email with class preference and  I will send you an contact information form (please do this even if you have been with me before. I will only ask once a school year!)

Open Studios First Wednesday of the month October to December 3:30-5pm
Wednesday 10/9, 11/6, 12/4 Let me know before the week of the Open Studio if you are coming

Fee: $5 per open studio

A time to play for families with available materials. Everyone welcome. Children under 5 are welcome with a caregiver. Drop off is optional for children over 5 if I know the child well! Otherwise caregivers stay and make own art with us!

Adult Printing Workshop 4 Thursdays at 7-9pm  Full
I can run this workshop with a minimum of 4 participants. We will make plates (anything that you print from) with different materials then use the prints for chosen projects- cards, collage or mixed media. Depending upon the interests of the class we could do some of the following: geli printing, leaf prints, monoprints, speedy cut blocks (like an easy to carve linocut) or styrofoam prints. All materials included.

Thursday evenings 11/14, 11/21, 12/5, 12/12
Fee: $100

Stay tuned for more adult workshops this winter!

Thanks!
Ann

Fall Art 2024

Hello Art Families! 

 I hope the summer has been inspirational and restful and you are still enjoying the precious last weeks of August. I have been lucky to visit new babies in my Canadian family, spend time with my sisters and their grown up children, see old friends and swim on the beaches of Cape Cod, the North Shore and Maine. I even saw one son (soon to see the other in September!)

Little Cranberry Isle, Maine

Fall Offerings: Art Classes Mondays and Tuesdays October- December 3:30-5pm 

Classes are designed as opportunities for children to work with the experience and interest they have. Each class includes a project and free time to explore materials. 5-11 yrs 

 Fee: $200 for 8 classes 

 Mondays 10//7, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 11/25, 12/2 (no class 10/14 Indigenous Peoples Day) I will have class on Veterans/Remembrance Day 11/11 

 Tuesdays 10/8, 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, 12/3 (no class 10/15 I work at Lex Farm) 

 Theme for the Fall is Printing. We will take time to practice known printing techniques and try new ones. We’ll experiment with printing and multi media. Some or all of: stenciling, monoprints, collographs and styroprints. 

To Register: Send me an email with class preference and contact information (please do this even if you have been with me before. I will only ask once a school year!) 

 Open Studios First Wednesday of the month October to December 3:30-5pm 

 Wednesday 10/9, 11/6, 12/4 

 To Register: Let me know before the week of the Open Studio if you are coming 

 Fee: $5 per open studio 

 A time to play for families with available materials. Everyone welcome. Children under 5 are welcome with a caregiver. Drop off is optional for children over 5 if I know the child well! Otherwise caregivers stay and make own art with us! 

Adult Printing Workshop 4 Thursdays at 7-9pm 

I can run this workshop with a minimum of 4 participants. We will make plates (anything that you print from) with different materials then use the prints for chosen projects- cards, collage or mixed media. Depending upon the interests of the class we could do some of the following: geli printing, leaf prints, monoprints, speedy cut blocks (like an easy to carve linocut) or styrofoam prints. All materials included. 

Thursday evenings 11/14, 11/21, 12/5, 12/12

To register send me an email

Fee: $100 

Thanks! 

Ann 

aroomforart.blogspot.com 

 Found object printing Art Camp 2024 

May 2024 Painting!

 Our landscaping is almost done! Now my work begins in setting up a mud kitchen and plantings for summer camp. But I will be able to offer some Spring painting! We’ll do our traditional spring messy painting and give this new asphalt some color! 

It will be a brief session, only Wednesdays in May. If you are interested let me know.


Painting in May
Wednesdays 3:30-5pm 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29
Fees: $100

Open House in June! Stay tuned

Art Camp 2024
Week 1 July 15, Week 2 July 22, Week 3 July 29

mornings 9-12
Still enrolling- Lots of space in the first week July 15-19, others are filling up

We have had an exciting construction site here at 115 Robbins Rd since March 18. For those of you who know my driveway and yard you will see the miracle! It’s almost done. Thank you for your patience this spring and your adaptability over the years as you navigated the uneven terrain!

I highly recommend JG Hardscapes as a group of patient, hardworking artisans. It was a great lesson in working slowly and carefully, then stone by stone a large project happens! They built the wall and stonework in the backyard (the paver was Jose Vilchez who was great too).

Summer Camp still enrolling!

Come draw, paint, print, run, play and build with us this July!

charcoal self portrait

shadow painting/drawing with watercolor and oil pastel

bog paper, long brushes and tempera paint

Printing with cardstock stencils and tempera paint

potion making with food color, soap and water

making color fly- games at Robbins Farm Park

 

Spring Art and Summer Art Camp 2024

Hello Everyone

It’s almost Groundhog Day! I hope you all are making best of the variable weather- taking out the sleds and skis, putting them away and then hauling them out once more. I caught a glimpse of the Wolf Moon last week coming home from Harvard Square.
Spring will be here soon.

Let me know if you are coming to Open Studios during the February school break
2/20 and 2/21 3:30-5pm
All welcome. Mothers fathers, sisters, brothers… come and play with available materials
$5, max $10 for families. Let me know you are coming by February 16!

A Note about Spring Classes
We are finally working on getting our retaining wall and driveway rebuilt so I am delaying scheduling my Spring Session. If all goes well I will most likely offer a 6 week session in May.

Art Camp 2024
I will offer 3 weeks this summer, end of July into August. I hope the timing works out for families who want to participate!

July 15-19
July 22-26
July 29- August 2

Mornings 9-12

What:
Summer Art Camp is a morning program for 5-11yr olds. Art projects are linked to games, stories, playful physical challenges and experimentation with elements like water, sand, clay, bubbles, earth and air. We do individual and collaborative work with a variety of 2D and 3D materials. The work is inspired by nature, fine artists, the materials themselves, and each other. It’s summer and the aim is to get wet, dirty and immersed in the elements!

When: 9am -12noon

Week 1 July 15-19
Week 2 July 22-26
Week 3 July 29- August 2

Where:

115 Robbins Rd, Arlington
Camp will be held at the studio down the driveway to the right of the house. Door is on the left. We will work and play in the studio, backyard and at Robbins Farm Park

Approximate Schedule:
9:00 Gathering activity outside
9:15 Meeting and Art Project, free play
10:30 Bathroom and snack
11:00 Walk to the Park, Games (this timing is subject to weather, how much everybody needs an open space to run and the whim of all the artists involved)
OR
Free play at studio

12:00 Pickup at 115 Robbins Rd

Early Pickup: Let me know if you need to pick up your child early. You can come to the park if we are there.

How to contact us during camp:
Ann’s cell: 781 366 5955

Drop off and Pick up: 115 Robbins Rd

What to bring
Bring:
-water bottle
- if raining, a rain coat
-simple snack (no nuts)

Wear:
- hat
-shoes to run in(no flip flops please)
-clothes that can get dirt, paint, glue and more on them(I have smocks)
-sunscreen (please apply at home)

It is also helpful if you eat breakfast and do a bathroom visit before you come to camp! (full stomach, empty bladder)

Assistants:
I will have an assistant with me from 9-12 each day. They will help
me with materials, bathroom runs, cleanup and the couple of trips to the park.

The Art

Visit my blog for pictures of past projects and summer camp archives. It will give you an idea of the materials I use regularly and the kinds of activities we do at camp. During Summer Camp we will do more with the outdoors and nature for inspiration. Each week will have a loose theme to tie the activities together. Some of the projects will produce products that we can play with outside. Some projects will be collaborative and others will simply be art to look at. There will be free time to experiment with materials.

The media will be a mixture of 2D and 3D.
I’ll let you know the themes later! (Not only do I need time to get it altogether, I also think that a theme does not tell a child what camp’s going to be like)

Registration! Please Read-
Send me an email and I will send you the contact information forms and waiver. When I receive a complete package including a $50 deposit per week, per child your child will be registered.

(This way I won’t chase anyone for contact information or $ and I can think about ART!)

Fees:
$225 per week per child
$50 per child, per week, due at time of registration, balance due on or before 1st day of class

Sibling discount: 10% off total

The Registration Package
-contact information form
-release papers- photo and walk
-$50 deposit per child per week

Newsprint, Cardboard and Glue

Two weeks ago we started the winter session with a project using very old newsprint from rolls, lots of glue and a piece of cardboard. The session’s theme is Build. 

So what’s the plan? Why are we making art from materials that look like our recycling bin? Isn’t art about beauty and mastering skill in order to render that beauty?

Some of you know me and are familiar with the projects I offer in the studio, others are participating for the first time. I thought this a good juncture to try to tell you about why I offer the projects I do to children that come to my studio.

There are many ways to approach art education with children just as there are many ways of thinking about how children learn and what art IS. Every individual child is a different kind of learner and every teacher has had a different path learning about both children and art.To quantify the varieties of approaches would require equations describing combinations and permutations learned (and forgot) in high school math. Suffice it to say it’s a big number considering the variables above.

My guiding principles come from decades of learning about early childhood education at school, my mentor art educators in Toronto, every art class I have taken and making art myself.

Here they are:

Making art with children- process over product
The developmental stages of children’s learning
Children are capable of choosing their own direction
The belief in artist’s constraints
Useful art materials are versatile
Purpose of the encounter
It’s all about relationship

Art with Children
Making art as a young child is more of an open ended encounter than a set of techniques that ends in something to hang on a wall. When we talk about process being more important than product we mean we honor the encounter over the finished product.
What do we want that encounter to be? It’s action, play, problem solving and immersion in tactile experience! There is a starting point but not a strict predetermined outcome. (although always some limits due to the space and the materials- more on that with artist’s constraints). It’s experimentation and messing about in a group, with that energy affecting everyone.

It’s the Making rather than what’s made.

The Developmental Stages of Children’s Learning
The idea that how we learn evolves as we age is not a rigid, linear, one size fits all progression but a gradual shift. Babies are their bodies and the sensations they feel. They begin their air breathing life as a bundle of potential- for language, mobility, awareness of self and others and the understanding of the physical world. They are gathering experience through their bodies and senses and putting it all together at an amazing pace. They are concrete learners and think with things. Watch any toddler work a room! By sometime during the school age years words and numbers make sense to them. They are ready for abstract thought. They are able to not only talk about things that are not present but to reason and argue with great skill.

Children are capable of choosing their own direction
This is a basic idea of developmental learning. If we take inspiration from the early years we believe that children can choose what they need. Think of how capable a 3 year old is! Most of the profound learning of the early years does not involve direct instruction, rather letting a child experience life- move and interact with people and things in a safe environment. In fact, more strongly, a child does not engage in learning tasks that are not meaningful to them. Not only are children capable in direction their own learning they have to!

Artist’s Constraints
Here’s where the contradictions arise. Because the world presents so many possibilities at any given moment to these creatures primed for taking on sensation and interactions there have to be some limits! How do you get started if anything is possible? There can be too much choice. Artists and children need a framework to create within- to exploit a medium, find novel ways to use a familiar material.

Versatile Materials
What makes a material a good one for an encounter with a child?

-the material can be changed in a variety of ways by the child
-the material is inviting to the child
-children can be independent in this altering of the material
-the encounter invites physical movement and experimentation
-the material is not too precious
-the arrangements made have the elements all artists consider- pattern, balance, value, color, proportion, scale, line, shape, texture

Purpose of the Encounter
 I had a life drawing teacher who used the term ‘searching lines’ as we, his students worked at rendering a live model with charcoal on newsprint. He encouraged us to try without angst or too much thought to make a mark- the angle of a forearm or the twist of a torso, the length of an upper leg or the shape of a shadow on the side of a face. Start by approximating with sketchy light lines until you find the ones that look right.
 Only by seeing how the marks relate to each other can you work on getting the proportion, value and shape that you see in the figure. (Learning to draw is another whole discussion!)
 Searching Lines is a great term for thinking about art with children. Not just in reference to marks on a page but to the whole journey of self expression. Making art is a search for ways of representing ideas. Each encounter with a material is an opportunity to express something imperfectly, one moment in a thousand moments of trying. It’s the trying that gets you there.
My teacher was giving us permission not to judge ourselves. As we adults know, we are often terrible task masters to ourselves! I have the heard the words, ‘I can’t draw’ hundreds of times and what they usually mean is I can’t draw a__________. (Equating art with realistic drawing is yet another whole discussion!)
 So I hope for the encounters between children and materials to be happy ones- active, playful, free of judgement and full of problem solving. The goal is to try to implement an idea through a material but also to learn about the material and the way it limits your initial plan. It is a two way dialogue. Children act on materials and the material’s properties define what the child can do with them. The materials talk back!

The purpose is participation!

Relationship
We work as a group and of course are affected by each other’s ideas! Thank goodness for other people’s ideas! They are windows into other possibilities. Often a direction spreads in a class and variations on a theme emerge. There is a positive kind of comparing that can happen that helps us define our own choices. Like a good conversation, a positive exchange of ideas helps us appreciate ourselves and others.
 It’s a web of relationship in any children’s learning environment- child/fellow children/environment and teacher.

Paper Glue and Cardboard
 The project we did our first class this winter involved a lot of newsprint, and glue and a cardboard base. Our starting point was a turn taking, feely cup exercise (can you describe the texture of the object inside without using your eyes?) I wanted to relate the idea of tactile texture to visual because what we were about to make would be very textured. The absence of color allows for seeing the light and dark created with the paper structures. Who knows if the connection made sense to anyone?
 Next as a group we played with the newsprint. What does it feel like? What does it sound like? There was incredible thunder created by flapping!
 How many ways can you make this paper not flat? I think of this as group idea generation, sharing the results of our actions.
 Fold, twist, scrunch, roll, rip and combinations of these.
 After this the invitation was to make a collage/assemblage with different kinds of surfaces. If you were an ant walking on the surface would be a varied terrain! Then individually with cardboard base, unlimited newsprint strips and glue each child acted on the paper different ways, applied glue with a brush to the paper or cardboard base and attached their forms.
 The paper is thin so it’s easy to make many layers, keep adding glue and paper in different arrangements.
 The collages children brought home are really souvenirs of a process. (Sorry about the filling of the recycling bin!)

What about beauty and skill at rendering it? It seems that the history of art is a long story about humans reacting to their existence and then artists continually reacting to each other. Art can express more than beauty because we experience many unbeautiful things. Art continually changes just as technology, culture and language does. 

To be continued

Winter Session 2024

Hi Everybody- Happy Digestion! (On all fronts- food, family, friends)

Here are the offerings for the New Year for A Room for Art

Winter Session January-February 2024
Weekly classes for K-Gr 5

Tuesday at 3:30-5pm 1/2, 1/9, 1/16, 1/23, 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/27
Wednesday at 330-5pm 1/3, 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/28

The theme of the session is BUILD. We will be using a variety of materials to make 3D art. We’ll use media for building big but not keeping a product, like clay and blocks and others that we’ll make something to keep, like cardboard, paper, wire and found materials.

Fees: $200 for 8 classes, 10% sibling discount

To Register: Send me an email with your child's full name and birthdate and a class preference

Building at the Maker Space Fall 2024

Open Studios During the School February Break
Tuesday February 20 and Wednesday February 21 3:30-5pm Family and Friends Welcome

Let me know if you are coming by the beginning of February
$5 drop in fee, $10 max for family
Children may be dropped off if I know them and have an emergency number. Otherwise caregivers are invited to stay and play!

Adult Workshops!
I have had a number of requests/ expression of interest in a workshop for adults that would happen on an evening or a weekend.

Currently there is a collage workshop in the works for sometime during the winter session. This would be one or 2 sessions and include a few exercises and lots of freeplay! More info to come.

Let me know if you are interested (for this winter or for the future) and we’ll figure out a date that works for most. This will mean being part of a short lived email frenzy with the small group interested. (THE hardest thing to do!)

Looking forward to art making in 2024!!

Art Offerings Fall 2023

Hello to All-

Head of the Meadow Beach, Truro 2023

I hope your summer is what you want it to be!
It’s been great to see many of you this summer at Art Camp. We are in our third week! Many of us are still dreaming of the beach or are still AT the beach but alas we have to plan the Fall! (Fall is great too!)

Fall Offerings:

My classes this year will be on Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30-5pm starting the first week in October and running to the end of November (note: no class on Hallowe’en or the day before Thanksgiving) 

Both classes are mixed age, family grouping, for children age 5-11. Projects are designed to allow for different age/stage children to take a direction that makes sense to them.

I am offering some Open Studios and a workshop in December.

Weekly Classes for children age 5-11yrs
Tuesdays: 3:30-5pm
10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 11/28
Sign up for the first 4, the second 4 or all 8 consecutive classes
Fee: $180 for 8 classes, $100 for 4 classes

Wednesdays: 3:30-5pm
10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/29
Sign up for the first 4, the second 4 or all 8 consecutive classes
Fee: $180 for 8 classes, $100 for 4 classes


December Workshop
Tuesday 12/5 and 12/12 3-5pm
Print/Paint/Make
For students Grade 4 and up. Adult participants are welcome!
Maximum 8 students

This is a 2 class workshop.
The first day involves experimenting with a variety of paint and ink, combining layers, making a bit of a mess. We’ll make watercolor washes on paper, ‘blocks' for printing with styrofoam and a series of prints. By the end of the class we will have the raw materials, colored papers and prints that we can then make in to a set of cards, collage or simple books.
The second day we go more slowly and carefully with the dry paper, cutting and measuring to make the finished products we want.

Fee: $50 for the 2 sessions

To Register: Send me an email with your child’s full name and class preference. I will send you registration paperwork. Returning families please bring contact information to the first class. New families please send contact information to 115 Robbins Rd Arlington, Ma 02476

Everyone please bring fees to the first class.

Open Studios
2 Wednesdays: 12/6 and 12/13 3:30-5pm
Everyone Welcome. Sisters, brothers, parents, friends, aunts, uncles and cousins. This is meant to be a chance to play together with materials available. Adults are encouraged to stay and play. You may drop off  your child older than 5 if your child is comfortable with that.

Fee $5, maximum per family $10

To Register- Let me know if you are coming closer to the date.

Open Studios on Thursday March 2 3:30-5pm

 Hi All- 

I forgot to mention Open Studios this Thursday. Everyone Welcome, $5 drop in fee, max for family $10

Thursday 3/2 3:30-5pm Open Studios

 Friends and Family! Come play with available materials- paint, draw, build

Summer Art Camp 2023

Artcamp 2023

What: 

Summer Art Camp is a morning program for 5-11yr olds. Art projects are linked to games, stories, playful physical challenges and experimentation with elements like water, sand, clay, bubbles, earth and air. We do individual and collaborative work with a variety of 2D and 3D materials. The work is inspired by nature, fine artists, the materials themselves, and each other. It’s summer and the aim is to get wet, dirty and immersed in the elements! 

When: 9am -12noon

Week 1  June 26- June 29 (Monday to Thursday only)

Week 2   July 17- July 21

Week 3   August 7- August 1

Week 4  August 14- August 18

Where:

115 Robbins Rd, Arlington 

Camp will be held at the studio down the driveway to the right of the house. Door is on the left. We will work and play in the studio, backyard and at Robbins Farm Park

Approximate Schedule:

9:00 Gathering activity outside 

9:15 Meeting and Art Project, free play

10:30 Bathroom and snack

11:00 

Walk to the Park, Games (this timing is subject to weather, how much everybody needs an open space to run and the whim of all the artists involved)

OR

Free play at studio

12:00 Pickup at 115 Robbins Rd

Early Pickup: Let me know if you need to pick up your child early. You can come to the park if we are there.

How to contact us during camp:

Ann’s cell: 781 366 5955

Drop off and Pick up: 115 Robbins Rd

What to bring

Bring:

 -water bottle

- if raining, a rain coat

-simple snack (no nuts)

Wear:

- hat

-shoes to run in(no flip flops please) 

-clothes that can get dirt, paint, glue and more on them(I have smocks)

-sunscreen (please apply at home)

It is also helpful if you eat breakfast and do a bathroom visit before you come to camp! (full stomach, empty bladder)

Assistants:

I will have an assistant with me from 9-12 each day. They will help

me with materials, bathroom runs, cleanup and the couple of trips to the park. 

The Art

Visit my blog for pictures of past projects and summer camp archives. It will give you an idea of the materials I use regularly and the kinds of activities we do at camp. During Summer Camp we will do more with the outdoors and nature for inspiration. Each week will have a loose theme to tie the activities together. Some of the projects will produce products that we can play with outside. Some projects will be collaborative and others will simply be art to look at. There will be free time to experiment with materials.

The media will be a mixture of 2D and 3D. 

I’ll let you know the themes later! (Not only do I need time to get it altogether, I also think that a theme does not tell a child what camp’s going to be like)

Registration! Please Read- 

 I am not going to take registration by email rather by mail (paper). If you would like to register send me an email and I will send you a registration package that you can drop off or mail.  When I receive a complete package your child will be registered. 

(This way I won’t chase anyone for contact information or $ and I can think about ART!)

Fees: 

$225 per week per child (for week 2,3,4) Week 1 $180

 $50 due at time of registration, balance due on or before 1^st day of class

Sibling discount: 10% off total

The Registration Package

-contact information form

-release papers- photo and walk  

-$50 deposit per child per week

-cheques payable to Ann Wynne 

-mailing address: 115 Robbins Rd Arlington, Ma 02476