THEMES FOR SPRING 2013

tree trunk print by Bryan Nash Gill

To be explored during our fast approaching Spring 2013 Art Brains session:

- Dendrochronology
- erupting volcanoes
- magical potions
- holiday animals
- ice cream time machines

and more that I can not yet reveal, as it is still currently classified as "super top secret."

RECIPES FOR IMAGINARY PEOPLE

The cool kids at Bradley Hills Elementary recently completed an innovative cookbook of recipes for Imaginary People.  This edition features everyday staples like the TNT Sandwich, as well as more controversial items such as the widely debated Cxtukscrxlmnexskkcxkcktscml recipe for the Ix. Some ingredients of note from these and other recipes in this volume :

- Klingon blood
- unicorn blood
- poison butter powder
- spit of a god
- warp plasma
- celestial diamonds
- 2 pieces of the American flag
- 100 eyelashes
- the core of the Multiverse 

And lots of other stuff you probably already have hanging around your kitchen. Click here to see the full cookbook, and remember: while these dishes are guaranteed to satisfy the affable wizards, gollums, Vulcans, ghosts, and Hippogriffs in your life, they are NOT intended for human consumption.

MAKE/BELIEVE SUMMER ART LAB - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

I'm happy to announce that there will be a 4-day Make/Believe Summer Art Lab held at Chevy Chase Elementary this June that is open not only to Chevy Chase students, but ALSO the general public! Please click the link below to take a look and reserve your child's spot.

I'll have more details later, but for now you can check out a few previous posts tagged with "Art Lab" to get a feel for M/B Summer vibes. These camps are always a blast - we have more time on our hands to work on more involved projects, which results in some extra fantastic artwork and experimentation. 

Make/Believe Summer Art Lab at Chevy Chase Elementary
Tuesday, June 18 - Friday, June 21, 2013;  9am - 12pm
*For kids ages 7 - 12
Register here: http://mbsalchevychase.eventbrite.com/

In other news, you can now request a Make/Believe program (like an after school Art Brains class) via a form on our website, about which we are feeling unreasonably fancy. If your child's school does not currently have any M/B programs and you think you would like one or know someone who might, now through June is a great time to give us a heads up for Fall of 2013.

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!*

All good wizards know the importance of names: to know a person or thing's true name can be the key to working powerful magic.  After some (semi) serious soul searching, the wizards here at Make/Believe have decided to do some re-naming. Let it be known: we bid farewell to the fairly impersonal moniker of "Art After School" and hereby anoint all after-school classes with the title ART BRAINS. 

Art Brains was the  name of the very first M/B program ever, a Summer art camp.  And this was fitting, because we wizards have been thinking a lot about our students' brains from the beginning. While we do tend to favor exercising the right brain abilities quite a bit, we like to actively engage as much of our students' brains as possible (left side, too) in each and every project we make together. We like our students to think inventively, to stretch their imaginations, to conceptualize, and creatively problem-solve. We know that these activities greatly enrich the developing young minds of those who practice them, and so we like the idea of the "Art Brains" name representing the classes we run for 3/4 of the year.

Each summer camp program will now be called "Make/Believe Summer Art Lab". With the same brain-conscious approach, Make/Believe Summer Art Lab students work for longer periods of time on projects, allowing for more in-depth explorations and sometimes, more expansive proportions. The umbrella name of our little company will remain "Make/Believe."

So there you have it. The world may never be the same, but for better or worse (better!), we know it will have more BRAINS.

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