2024 Winter Highlights: Craft in Schools Field Trips & Partners

As we round the corner from winter into spring, our Craft in Schools program would like to reflect on our most recent and multimedia season of teaching artist & student programs. Throughout February, over 200 students across five schools learned about and explored the creative potential of puppetry, piñatas, reclaimed, and assemblage art from our Spirit of Play: Craft and Imagination exhibition. 

Inspired by our most recent PBS Craft in America featured Play & Miniatures episodes, we connected and engaged these students ages 9-18 with featured teaching artists Lorena Robletto, Calder Kamin, and local artist Eleanor Tullock from the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre.

Rosewood Elementary 4th grade classmates, a chaperon, and their teacher ooh and ahh over the many colorful plastic/recycled art sculptures by Calder Kamin
Rosewood 4th graders enjoy Calder Kamin’s recycled/reuse-art
Smiling group photo of 2 dozen or so enthustiastic Paul Revere M.S. art class with their teacher among the many colorful plastic/found object sculptures of Calder Kamin
Paul Revere students studying book arts enjoy Calder Kamin’s reclaimed art
Candid group photo of Rosewood elementary schoolers studying Schroeder Cherry's Future Voter artworks
Rosewood Elementary students learn about Schroeder Cherry’s assemblage art

Our gallery visits investigated the environmental impact and hope within reclaimed/reuse art practices, guided by visiting artist Calder Kamin; we had a blast discussing school recycle programs, building out marker-cap jump ropes (pictured below) and exploring how we envision the future based on collective ecological responsibilities. Our curriculum explored poignant historical art related to Black History Month as seen in Schroeder Cherry’s historical puppetry and hopeful Future Voter Series assemblage art. Working with each of these artists was such a treat– full of personal artist-journey insights and messages of creative empowerment.

Paul Revere middle schoolers gather their cardboard and found object materials for assemblage project with artist Calder Kamin
Paul Revere art students create their own assemblage art with found materials
close up photo of colorful star pinata's with varying shades of blues purples and oranges held in a group by Van Nuys High School student hands reaching from off-camera
Van Nuys students and their unique star piñatas
Candid moment of Fairfax High School art students studying Mark Murphy's displayed miniatures and Loren Robletto's giant window Piñata
Fairfax students learn about historic recreations through Mark Murphy’s miniatures
Close up of cork and various found object mini figurines made by Palms M.S. students. Students work on their found object projects in the background
Re/claimed miniature art sculptures at Palms M.S.
Fairfax High students showing off their origami fabric puppets
Fairfax high schoolers show off their origami and textile puppets
Van Nuys high schoolers and Amazing Piñata Studios teacher craft star piñatas together with crepe paper
Van Nuys H.S. students learn about piñata making with local Amazing Piñatas Studio creators

All of us collaborating educators were impressed and delighted in our students’ depth of inquiry, creative innovation, and visual thinking. Special thanks to the following schools teacher and chaperone collaborators at: Rosewood Elementary, Paul Revere Middle School, Palms Middle School, Fairfax High School, and Van Nuys High School.

Community Partnerships: Reaching this many students in a whirlwind few weeks wouldn’t have been possible without key community partnerships. Our Craft Center would like to show our biggest thanks to all of our teaching artists and shoutout our wonderful LA-community partnerships with Remainders: Creative Reuse Space & Thriftstore in Pasadena; and Señora Robletto’s Mid-City Amazing Piñatas Creative Studio for donating our assemblage/reclaimed, piñata teaching artists, and piñata workshop materials. Do yourself a favor, explore and connect with these wonderful community shops and studios! 

For more information about our Craft in Schools program or teaching artist opportunities, please contact (me) Sam@craftinamerica.org or center@craftinamerica.org

Lorena Robletto (of Amazing Piñatas in LA) and Francisco Cardenas, PLAY, Craft in America
Robletto, Lorena and Cardenas, Francisco. Photo: Denise Kang
Storefront of Remainders Creative Reuse store and community hub in Pasadena, CA
Remainders Creative Reuse Center in Pasadena, Los Angeles
Calder Kamin with her unicorn installation, PLAY, Craft in America
Calder Kamin with her unicorn installation. Photo: Denise Kang