The Rare Hare Studio offers art classes to children ages preschool through 8^th grade, introducing a wide variety of materials and techniques.Students are encouraged to explore supplies and tools freely, as well as to participate in guided lessons.Basic artistic elements such as line, shape, color, texture, form, space, and value, as well as design concepts, are discussed and practiced at appropriate grade levels.Study of these elements is further enhanced by an emphasis upon the use of patterns and rhythm in art.Taking note of patterns in the environment around us and how they can be interrelated is an integral part of this process.

We offer a truly unique mix of classes where participants can discover new things and yet build on what skills they may already have. Some students can draw very well, others may prefer to make sculpture or weave.  At Rare Hare Studio, many of our projects used mixed media, so participants are exposed to a wide range of materials and applications. We offer opportunities to develop existing skills, and introduce new skills in a comfortable, relaxed environment.

You can see a CURRENT CLASS SCHEDULE here. Find out about recycling arts/donations and F.A.I.R. here.   

Click here to see the 2013 Summer Camp Schedule.

In the summer camp Old Fashioned Crafts, we made pantins, a French paper doll similar to a jacking jack. Digging through the big bin of recycled papers to choose our designs in half the fun!

Borrowing from an “old fashioned” type of game, we played Pin the Ear On Van Gogh on the patio during our break.  It didn’t matter where the ear ended up, we were all in stitches!

These gentlemen are sporting their King Tut hats, made from recycled grocery sacks in Egyptian Camp.

In addition to creating lots of art with Egyptian themes, another hightlight was excavating hidden treasures from ancient rocks.

This camper leaves Egyptian Summer Camp with enough projects to fill a pyramid including a treasure map, a scarab necklace, a mummy and more!

In Asian Art, we studied what one student called the “calm nature” of the art and images.  We used water colors to make beautiful paper kimonos.

We often noticed that the colors in our kimonos were the same colors we were wearing in our clothes!

In Found Objects camp we used fallen palm fronds to create animal faces; the shape lends itself to an awesome elephant, but we had a few giraffes and one rhino to boot!  The garden patio provides a nice alternative to inside; we stay cool and the paint dries fast!

Another studio favorite is the postage stamp art; using cancelled postage stamps as the muse, students create a scene based on the image.  In this case, this second grade student used a 1970′s stamp of the moon landing  and shuttle lauch to create a space scene.

Found Objects camp included these odd birds made from recycled plastic bottles.

In Intermediate Art Skills, students in grades 5th-7th worked on the elements of art and design by drawing from a still life.  It’s hard to tell the difference between the real objects and this student’s amazing rendering.  I think Cezanne would approve.

Inspired by Gustav Klimt’s take on the forest, Intermediate Art Skills students did their own versions, choosing which season and corresponding colors was best for them.  We also chose from faux wood paneling scraps to make our trees; notice one student’s idea of placing a Klimt figure in their spring forest (below).

For our middle school camp we took students to San Francisco for 5 days.  On day one we took in the amazing murals of the Mission District; this student is looking at a mural of an alley of murals while standing in an actual alley of murals….upon our return we created murals and many other aspects of our trip to San Francisco.  After the one week trip we spent a week creating the Living Map of San Francisco in the studio showing the different neighborhoods and points of interest.

People of all ages were getting into the fun at the one year anniversary party (2/21/09).

The studio was all a buzz during the one year anniversary party!  Celebrating one year of art classes for children and families, and spreading awareness about recycling arts, the studio had a successful first year.  In our new location, only 2 doors down from the previous space, children and families have a bit more room to engage in art, both inside and on the new enclosed patio.  The big windows and great light, along with “garden” feel of the patio, make for a delightful environment for creating art.  The new building, a historical moment, built in 1925, adds to the character and experience of Rare Hare Studio.

The new studio space glows on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.

Rare Hare Studio wrapped up 2008 with art classes focusing on card making, decoupage, and holiday gift making using recycled scraps and reclaimed objects.  Offering a combination of art classes for kids and for families, artists of all ages were engaged in the endless fun of recycled arts.  We look forward to seeing everyone in the new year, with more unique classes and special events.

This artist uses tiny beads to enhance a card in Family Card Making.

In a recent Jackson Pollock Jr class, this young person creates his vision of a ship. This child’s ingenuity with the scraps is what our F.A.I.R projects are all about.

This student explores color mixing with water color and eye-droppers; she discovers what a little and a lot of paint can do, how colors can mix to make other colors, and what types of patterns can occur from dripping the paint, dragging the tool or pulling up one end of the paper while the paint is wet.   This type of exploration with art and scraps is always a theme in the studio, but young ones can try it out in our Jackson Pollock Jr. class (ages 3-7).

Thanks to the Normal Heights Community Council for special recognition; Honorable Mention for Best New Storefront Window on Adams Avenue. We like to share the joys of reycled scraps and art with all that pass by!

Mini-Room Design, a key component of Rare Hare F.A.I.R (Fostering Artistic Ingenuity w/Recycling) allows kids the opportunity to create with a wide variety of recycled and reclaimed items to make their own room, house, and in some cases multi-level mansions!  Sky is the limit with mini-rooms, as students spend hours making furniture and designing their interiors with fabric, wood, tile, and plastic scraps.  It is amazing to watch the project in action; with endless possibilities, the kids are intensely focused on putting their vision into concrete forms.  There is someting innate in us all about nesting and making one’s own space reflect personality and to have it function effectively.  This 3rd grade student’s ingenuity with the scrap materials was highly creative and imaginative.  His idea of making stairs from tile scraps sent other students into a stair making frenzy!