The Arts Council
of Greater Palatka would like to announce we have openings for students in our
“Arts Underground” program held in the lower level of the LarimerArtsCenter located at 216 Reid St.
Palatka. These classes are taught by Dana Woodard and Luke Taft.
Classes include theater and art. Classes are held on Monday’s from 4 to
5:30 for ages 6 to 9. Wednesday’s classes are for ages 10 to
14 and also are 4 to 5:30. Come explore and have fun painting, drawing,
acting, lighting, creating sets and much more.
The Arts Council's second
year of its Arts Underground After School Program is well underway and still
has room for a few more students. The program combines different mediums and
genres of creativity including performance art and visual art to wake up your
child’s creative side and critical thinking skills. The combination of
inventive and instructional learning equips students with knowledge and tools
to help them succeed in virtually every aspect of their lives. Our program
is designed to encourage students to think outside of the box, become problem
solvers, and increase self confidence in a social setting. We achieve this by
allowing students develop their wildest creative thoughts in a way that can be
expressed meaningfully to others. Students not only learn the power of their
individual minds, but also how to collaborate and help each other cultivate their
ideas and realize the advantages and synergistic effects of group efforts. For more information or to
register for class please call Dana at 1-352-339-1040
or you can email artsinputnam.@aol.com. Executive
Director Denise Aiken said, “The Arts Council believes the arts should be
accessible for all youth and we are proud to present this program with no fees.”
This program is in its second year. Again, class size is limited.
Scroll Down For Pics
Here students learned how to work with lighting for mood, effect, and technique.
(Above)
Students place objects into a confined space so they could then
experiment with how the objects would react to different lighting. They
also were able to imagine the individual boxes as a stage set and
learned how objects within a stage setting can effect the light and the
mood of a production.
(Left) Students
took turns repositioning the light source and moving it to different
types of music to create motion and enhance the mood of a simple
shadow set.
Participants in this exercise learned properties of
both light and shadow as well as how lighting can be used as a tool to
add drama , emotion, and even motion to a static theater set, making it "come to life".
Pictured
above, students learned about sketching and composition. Students were
instructed to choose elements of a backgrounds they wanted for a puppet
shows that they were to perform. The students followed along on paper
with the instructor's chalkboard sketches as everybody helped to place
the elements within a composition. The photos below show students
painting the resulting compositions as they learned about color,
lighting, and perspective. Students also created their own paper
puppets that they designed, named, painted, cut out and assembled.
The
photos above show students performing acting exercises, face painting,
and puppet skits. The acting exercises help the students to loosen up
as well as how to control their motions. The face painting was part of
a lesson in facial expressions and pantomime theater. The puppet skits
introduced students to acting and playwriting. This is particularly
helpful to younger students to gain an understanding of the many
elements that creates a theater production including, visual art, stage
setting, and witting. It also allows them to experience theater without
being immediately thrust into a spotlight.
The video below shows
a skit written and performed by students using pantomime, or acting
with gesture. The students were encouraged to follow a simple story
line and also to add improvisation where they felt it was appropriate
to make the production more entertaining to the audience.
The
Arts Council is the Designated Local Arts Agency for Putnam County and
is supported in part by our members,
the State of Florida, Department
of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts
Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the
City of
Palatka, the
Putnam County Commission and the Putnam County Tourist Development
Council.