School may have been out, but Claymobile was IN!
As the school year began to wind down in June, Claymobile was prepping for what we knew would be a busy summer. From June to August, Claymobile visited over 30 different sites and taught over 175 classes throughout the Philadelphia region! From portrait focused workshops at the Asian Arts Initiative summer camp, to exploding volcanoes at the Salvation Army Corps, Claymobile created hundreds of different projects with students throughout the city.
Spotlight: Asian Arts Initiative Summer Residency
Almost 30 students participated in a 6-week long portrait-themed camp at Asian Arts Initiative this summer. The workshop, titled
Talking Mirrors: The Portrait Workshop, explored identity and culture through portraiture. Claymobile spent 4 weeks at these classes, collaborating with AAI teaching artists on two projects. Students used white clay and glaze to make “Portrait Mugs”, functional cups sculpted with facial features. They also used red clay and acrylic paint to make “Picasso Masks,” decorative abstract masks modeled after Cubist portraits. The finished works were included in an end-of-summer exhibition in August.
Need a refresher? Here’s how Claymobile can partner with your school or organization.
Claymobile began at The Clay Studio in 1994 as a way to engage with our Philadelphia community through the medium of clay. Since then, Claymobile has grown tremendously. Today we partner with schools, community centers, social services agencies, and more for in-school programming, out-of-school programming, and events! We are committed to making arts learning opportunities accessible to all because we have seen time and time again how working with clay nurtures imagination, critical thinking, and persistence in everyone from kindergarteners to senior citizens.
Claymobile functions in a several different ways, such as one-time workshops or residencies. Each workshop consists of a 90-minutes ceramics lesson in which participants hand-build and glaze a clay project. Then, we bring the projects back to our studio where they are fired in the kiln and delivered back to students at a later date. Then there are residencies, our favorite ways to engage with Claymobile sites! Residencies last anywhere from 6- to 12-weeks (or the entire year), consisting of a 90-minute ceramics lesson once a week for the duration of the program. For residencies, we love to collaborate with classroom teachers to link our Claymobile lessons with what the students are learning in the classroom, but are also happy to let our talented team of teaching artist lead the way with a variety of creative projects from their repertoire.
Claymobile is also happy to join your event! For large scale events we offer Claymation, group sculpt, or special projects to engage your event participants! AND, if something from this list doesn’t quite fit the build, we are happy to discuss other possibilities!
Interested in bringing Claymobile to your school or organization?
Visit us at theclaystudio.org/claymobile to fill out
our partnership form
Sincerely,
Megan Millman
Community Engagement Manager
megan@theclaystudio.org
215-925-3453 x15
