5th and 6th graders from Gabriel Abbot Memorial School in Florida, MA with their under-the-sea menagerie

We kicked off this year’s artist residency program today with artist James Grashow, whose Under the Corrugated Sea installation has been a huge hit in our current exhibition! During the residency, Grashow is working with 5th-7th graders at five local elementary schools to help them create their own cardboard fish (he calls them the “rarest creature in the ocean!”). Students partnered up to design tails and fins (and in some cases, top hats and ballet slippers) for their fish and then used paint to apply the final touches.

Participants will then have the opportunity to show off their fish during the Kidspace Mermaid Parade on February 11th.

Grashow helping Clarksburg Elementary School 5th and 6th graders cut out their designs

Stay tuned for more about the Mermaid Parade and next week’s artist-in-residency with Ginger Ertz!

Dive in to a week of sea-inspired art and fun activities at Kidspace!

Inspired by the current Under the Sea exhibition, we will explore the human impact on the environment and our relationship to nature through morning art projects and afternoon bookmaking.

Each day will include:

Art Projects: Sand Mandalas, Treasure Chests, Windsock Printmaking, Watercolor & Pastel Seascapes, Jellyfish Water Bottle Mobiles, Seaweed Book-Making

Games and Movement Activities

Snacks

Gallery Visits

Fee

$75 per child for the entire week.  Before and/or after care, from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. & 3:00 – 5:00 p.m., can be provided for an additional fee of $10 per child. A 10% discount is available for additional siblings.

*Please let us know in advance if your child has a food allergy. Healthy snacks will be provided; please bring your own lunches.

Limited space available—reserve by calling (413)664-4481 x8131 or e-mail kidspace@massmoca.org today!

This year, at MASS MoCA’s annual Free Day, take a break from the cold and experience the ocean right here in North Adams! Kidspace is hosting a Mermaid Parade, due to kick off at 2:30pm on Saturday, February 11th outside Kidspace on the 2nd floor of MASS MoCA. Come in costume: merpeople, fish, sharks, Spongebobs, sailors, and aquatic creatures of all shapes and sizes (and ages!) welcome–or if you stop by Kidspace between 11 and 2, you have the chance to make your costume or prop here! Prizes will be awarded.

Have a whale of a time at your very own Kidspace Birthday Party!

Rent out the Kidspace gallery for your exclusive use—invite your friends, get up close and personal with the artwork, play games and create your own masterpieces to bring home. Choose one of three birthday party packages to make your child’s birthday party one to remember!

- The Minnow (Basic) Birthday Package includes:

Features: instructions & supplies for 1-2 art projects (can be related to the current exhibition), instruction on 1-2 games, and exclusive use of Kidspace for two hours.

Cost: $275

-The Shark (Super) Birthday Package includes:

Features: All of the above as well as party favors for each guest (please give Kidspace a week’s notice for the precise number of guests).

Cost: $375

-The Whale (Super Duper) Birthday Package includes:

Features: All of the above and a meal from Lickety Split! Dinner if it is an evening party (pizza, vegetable sticks, soda, and an ice cream cake) or breakfast if it is a morning party (bagels, muffins, juice, fruit).

Cost: $475 All packages cover 15 children and 2 adults.

Each additional child is $10 with a maximum of 20 children. Beyond 20 we must hire additional staff, and the cost increases to $15 per additional child.

Kidspace Birthday Parties can be held from 9-11 a.m. or from 4-6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays only.

Specialize your invitations! Kidspace invitations can be purchased at an additional cost of $12/10 invitations.

For more information or to book your child’s party, call Kidspace at (413) 664-4481 x8131 or email at kidspace@massmoca.org. Please book your party with at least one month’s notice. Payment due one week in advance of the party.

Here at MASS MoCA, “Take Your Child to Work Day” means more than just bringing our kids to work—we put ‘em to work, too! This December, four creative kids and their MoCA staff parents will be leading fabulous hands-on art workshops. So kids, grab your parents and join us over December Break to get to know the children behind your favorite museum!

Saturday, December 17^th at 9:30a.m.: Chic Jewelry With Isabel

Join Isabel Thompson and her father, MASS MoCA Director Joe Thompson, for the kick-off workshop! Isabel and Joe will be designing and fabricating very chic, rare, collectible jewelry: the kind of stuff they dream about in West Hollywood.

Wednesday, December 28^th at 9:30 a.m.: New Year’s Crowns With Deliah

Deliah Shulman and her mother, Kidspace’s very own Education Coordinator Shannon Toye, will teach you how to bend and weave pipe cleaners to create your own intricate tiara or hat!

Thursday, December 29^th at 9:30 a.m.: Mermaids and Mermen Sculptures With Tenley

Tenley Smith and her mother Katherine Myers, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, will help you turn your empty plastic bottles and other discarded materials into whimsical mermaids (and mermen!).

Friday, December 30^th at 9:30 a.m.: Model Rockets With Alex

Alex Babcock and mother Pam Babcock, teacher at Kidspace partner School Clarksburg Elementary, teach you how to make cardboard rocket ships, which you can then send out on a test flight!

$5/per person for each individual workshop or register for all 4 workshops for $15. Workshops are appropriate for ages 4 and up with parental guidance. Pre-registration required by Saturday, December 10^th. Call Kidspace at (413) 664-4481 x8131 to register OR email at kidspace@massmoca.org.

All workshops will run from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. in Kidspace.

The Kidspace gallery will be open for regular public hours (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) with art making every day of December break (12/22/11 through 1/2/12) except on Christmas Day (12/25).

First, you need the following materials:

* A Ruler
* A Wooden Dowel
* Newspaper (65 sheets)
* Tape (masking or duct)
* A Stapler

STEP 1: ROLL NEWSPAPER INTO PAPER DOWELS

Place the dowel on the corner and start rolling.

Slightly loosen and let the dowel fall out.
Tape the paper in place.

You will need:
(35) Newspaper Dowels measuring 28 inches
(30) Newspaper Dowels measuring 24 inches

Now for the fun part!
STEP 2: ASSEMBLY
Here’s a great video on YouTube which highlights all the steps:

What are we going to do with this geodesic dome?
We’re going to make a spaceship for our float in the annual Fall Foliage Parade!
Stay tuned….

Each day of camp began with a yoga and meditation session under one of their favorite spaces at the museum: Natalie Jeremijenko’s Tree Logic. We love teaching children the practice of mindfulness because it gives them an opportunity to ground themselves, decompress and get ready to focus their imagination and creativity. Often times we forget the stresses and pressure that children face and providing them with this brief opportunity really has an impact on their visit and the rest of their day.

““I wish I could do this all day long.” – Ashanti age 7
“Sometimes I have a hard time sitting still, but never when I come to Kidspace!” –Connor age 10

Following yoga, we ventured inside where we began our exploration of this year’s theme “Out of this World! SPACE EXPLORATION.” Students had the opportunity to work on a variety of art projects ranging from creating quilt squares of the night sky using batik, sculpting aliens out of Paper Mache, exploring engineering and building techniques using dowels created with newspaper, chalk drawing, painting and sculpting with clay.

“Sometimes you get afraid to use your imagination, but I do whatever my imagination tells me to when I come here.” – Sean age 6

One of the important aspects of camp was providing each of the 270 students who participated an opportunity to help create artwork for our float for the annual Fall Foliage Parade. This year’s theme “Take P.A.W.S. in the Berkshires” was left to creative interpretation by parade participants. To relate this theme to the camp theme we brainstormed ideas and developed our float to fit the theme “Peaceful Aliens Wandering Space” Be sure to look for our spaceship in the Parade!

“I never thought of using newspaper to build with, but I found out that it’s wicked strong.” – Adam age 12
“Geodesic Dome? I had no idea what that was. Now I know how to build one and it’s gonna be awesome!” – Collin age 11

I think all campers would agree that their absolute favorite part of camp was climbing two flights of stairs and braving the bridge to Michael Oatman’s All Utopia’s Fell. Children were enthralled with every aspect of the piece, from the thrill of being so high in the air, to the bicycle that creates electricity and especially the opportunity to see a glimpse of the history of MASS MoCA’S campus walking through the Boiler plant.

As our busy summer winds to a close, we’d love to thank all the children and teachers that made this summer so lively and exciting for us!

Our current exhibit Colorforms II: Basic Utensils is open through Labor Day, then we will be closed until October 1!

Kidspace at MASS MoCA Presents Collaboration between Teenagers and Artist Samuel Rowlett in Teenspace on Holden Street

(North Adams, MA) As part of DownStreet Art’s kickoff, Kidspace will welcome visitors to  an opening reception for its new project, Teenspace, at 26 Holden Street, on Thursday, June 23, 2011. This venture will  exhibit an off (and on!) the wall ink drawing collaboration between Northampton-based artist Samuel Rowlett and 15 local high school students, which will run until August 21, 2011. Laura Thompson, Kidspace Director of Exhibitions and Education, explains that the inspiration behind this new project was for Kidspace at MASS MoCA to continue to work with the community and with artists. “We are excited to bring Samuel Rowlett to local teens, who are collaborating to create drawings and other artwork that I think will prove to be a great demonstration of the impressive creativity of the teens in the North Berkshires!”

Samuel Rowlett was chosen from a large pool of applicants who responded to Kidspace’s open call. Rowlett was born in Leicester, England, and raised in Vermont. He received his M.F.A. in 2008 from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield Hills, Minnesota. He has exhibited in multiple places around the United States including The Yale School of Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, and The Art Gym-Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon. Rowlett’s artistic viewpoint is well-suited to work with teenagers.  Explaining his most recent work he said, “I have come to realize that my memories of youth are so under-the-influence of peer mythology and popular culture that it is impossible to unravel them. They are projections of a kind of childhood of the collective unconscious.”

The 15 high school students who were selected to collaborate with Rowlett are from local area schools.  Students from Drury High School in North Adams, Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, BArT (Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter School) in Adams, Berkshire School in Sheffield, Charles McCann Vocational Technical School in North Adams and Hoosac Valley High School in Adams were recruited through the MASS MoCA website and  Facebook page. Applications were also sent to art teachers in each high school to inform students of Teenspace. “The goal of this project is to provide teenage students in the local high schools with an opportunity to work with a professional artist to create a body of work, learn how to install an exhibit and gain experience interacting with the public in talking about their artwork. Student participants will also be receiving a stipend to participate in the program,” said Shannon Toye, Kidspace Education and After School Programs Coordinator.

The  second opening celebration for Teenspace will be held on July 28 from 6-9pm. Opening night will feature live art-making by the teenagers, who will paint the walls in shifts throughout the evening. The gallery space  will be  staffed by the students throughout the duration of the show, which will be open Wednesday thru Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and Sundays from 10am to 2pm, until August 21, 2011.

Kidspace Public Hours:  Kidspace is open every day, except Tuesdays, 11am to 4pm. Summer hours begin June 25m with Kidspace open every day, 11am to 4pm.

Teenspace is funded by the James and Robert Hardman Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

Kidspace is a collaborative project of the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art, and MASS MoCA. Major season support for Kidspace is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ann R. Avis and Gregory M. Avis Fund, & Donald R. Mullen, Jr.   Additional support by the Brownrigg Charitable Trust, Milton and Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond Foundation, and Alice Shaver Foundation in memory of Lynn Laitman; Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne; Duncan & Susan Brown; Timur Galen & Linda Genereux; Andrew & Christine Hall; Robert Menschel; Liz & Samuel Robinson; James & Robert Hardman Fund; the Massachusetts Cultural Council; & Gateway Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.  Thanks also to Lisa Corrin & Peter Erickson, Andrew & Tracy Foster, Thomas H. Green, Elizabeth Hilpman, Susan Kaplan, Henry & Maureen Lee, Cherrie Nanninga & Reno Cappello, Marie Nugent-Head, Marilyn & Tom Patti, Peggy Shaughnessy, David & Julie Tobey, George S. Tsandikos, & Byron Tucker.

Featuring Ginger Ertz, Johnston Foster, James Grashow, Aurora Robson, Dirk Westphal, and Deborah Wing-Sproul. This multi-medium group exhibition will convert Kidspace into an artistic aquarium, and will address contemporary issues of maritime habitats and conservation.