It’s chilly and windy out today, so why not experience the tropical flowers and plants of Brazil?  The Macy’s Flower Show is up in Herald Square, and the theme this year is Brasil: Gardens in Paradise.

We think it will be just the escape New York families are looking for!  Flowers are beautiful and lots of fun to draw, paint, and sculpt.  Be inspired to make some ART when you go home!  We will be!

Open Sunday, March 25^th – Saturday, April 7^th during store hours

For more information, visit their website!

D’Amelio Gallery is currently showing Polly Apfelbaum: Flatterland Funkytown!  A “fallen painting” made up of dyed, crushed, hand-cut velvet, this piece is NYC and can be experienced in person through April 28^th!  We began the Fall by looking at Polly Apfelbaum’s work so why not begin the Spring the same way?

D’Amelio Gallery

525 W 22^nd Street

New York, NY 10011

http://www.dameliogallery.com/

Takashi Murakami, Flower Matango

We at Claire’s Creative Adventures want to wish you a HAPPY SPRING!

As a reminder, we are on SPRING BREAK and will resume classes Monday, April 2^nd!

Enjoy your time off and the BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!!

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What are your plans for this weekend?  Claire’s Creative Adventures has a few picks to help you choose fun, family friendly, creative activities!

Join the Annual St. Patrick’s Open Day!

Looking to fill your weekend with the luck of the Irish? Here’s our recommendation!  An afternoon of Irish music, dance, crafts, and language.  Tons to do for the whole family including performances and activities.  You don’t need to be Irish to enjoy this day!

Saturday, March 17th, 12-5pm Rain or Shine

Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51 Street

Check out their website for a complete listing: http://www.irishartscenter.org/kids.htm

Celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival at the American Museum of Natural History!

AMNH celebrates the 100th anniversary of the gift of Japanese cherry blossoms to New York City with Cherry Blossoms: Japan Fest, four days of family-friendly activities.  Activities include flower arranging, ink brush painting, a tea ceremony, shadow puppet performances, and the Matsuri Folk Dance Festival.  You can also visit the Woven Cherry Blossom Installation!

Wednesday-Friday, March 14-16, 11 am–4 pm

Saturday, March 17th – 12-5pm

AMNH, Central Park West at 79th Street

For more information, visit http://www.amnh.org/calendar/event/Cherry-Blossoms:-Japan-Fest/

Experience two classic tales in a new way!

Corbian Arts and Dance presents The Ugly Duckling & The Tortoise and the Hare at Symphony Space.  This masterful production uses puppets and props formed from electroluminescent wire, making them glow in the dark.  With a soundtrack of contemporary and classical music, this production is fun for the whole family.

Saturday, March 17 @ 11am

Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street

For more information and tickets, visit http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/6915-the-ugly-duckling-the-tortoise-and-the-hare

Opening Reception for Misaki Kawai’s Love from Mt. Pom Pom!

At the Children’s Museum of Art, Japanese artist Misaki Kawai has created an interdisciplinary exhibition using multiple mediums and techniques which transforms the gallery into a world named “Mt. Pom Pom.” Join giant fuzzy animals and other exciting characters at the exhibition and be inspired to create art!

Opening Reception Saturday, March 17th, 12-6pm

Children’s Museum of Art, 103 Charlton Street

For more information and an awesome documentary of how the exhibition came together, visit http://www.cmany.org/event/misaki-kawai-%E2%80%93-love-from-mt-pom-pom/

Have a Happy and Safe Weekend from CCA!

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Have you ever tried to make a sculpture out of wire?  We bet it was difficult.  That’s one of the reasons that we respect and enjoy artist Derek Kinzett’s work.  Born in Gloucestershire, England in 1966, Kinzett began The Inner Spirit Collection of hand crafted, life-sized wire sculptures in 2004.  His sculptures are intricately detailed and life-like.  Take a look at the slideshow and tell us what you think!  Are you inspired to make your own?

For more information and a great video, visit the artist’s website: http://derekkinzettwiresculpture.co.uk/index.html

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Today’s CCA Women History Month artist is an artist we studied in the fall: POLLY APFELBAUM!

Polly Apfelbaum received her B.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art in 1978.  She is best known for her “fallen paintings” that often reside on the floor and fall into the space between painting, installation, and sculpture.  Consisting of dyed fabric, her work often looks as though a pattern organically formed from a point on the floor.  Apfelbaum has had numerous solo exhibitions including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.  Her work can be seen at MoMa and the Whitney!

Apfelbaum’s ability to melt paintings off of the wall and into the viewer’s space is stunning.  She is an important contemporary artist, and inspired our students to create their own “fallen paintings” from felt in the fall! 

It’s a beautiful day outside and feels like spring!  We at Claire’s Creative Adventures suggest going out and enjoying some of the amazing public art around the city.

Every spring, a sculptural installation opens along the Park Avenue malls between 50^th and 68^th Streets presented by The Sculpture Committee of The Fund for Park Avenue and the Public Art Program of the City of New York’s Department of Parks & Recreation. This year the installation features the work of Venezuelan artist Raphael Barrios.    There are nine stainless steel, geometric sculptures along the Park Avenue malls and at 2,200 lbs and 20 feet tall, they are not to be missed.  Each is multi-colored and light sensitive so that they change color with the light. 

Why not take advantage of the beautiful day and go see some PUBLIC ART?  Let us know what you think!

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For more information on Raphael Barrios, visit his website:

http://rafaelbarrios.com

One of our amazingly talented art teachers, Queena Ko, has an exhibition of her work opening tonight and runs March 8 – April 8!

Opening Reception TONIGHT for DISORIENT at The Cupping Room from 6:30 to 8:30!

DISORIENT brings together three diverse artists tht challenge everyday perceptions of reality and reveal hidden elements of familiar environments through color, text, and pattern.

Artwork by Laura Jane Meyer, Olivia Swisher, and Queena Ko. Curated by Derrick B. Harden and Kaitlyn Stubbs.

So come on out and join us in celebrating Queena’s art!

OPENING RECEPTION TONIGHT

Thursday, March 8

6:30pm – 8:30pm

The Cupping Room

359 W Broadway (between Broome and Grand Street)

Today is the 537^th birthday of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, aka Michelangelo!  Considered to be one of the greatest artists of all time, Michelangelo was a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and poet during the Renaissance.  In recognition of his artistic success during his lifetime, there were two biographies about him published while he was alive (a first for an artist at the time.)  Well known to most as the artist of the sculpture David and the Sistine Chapel ceiling, he is the creator of some of the most famous artworks in existence. 

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” ~ Michelangelo

View a slideshow of some of his most famous works below (contains nudity.)  Which one is your favorite?  Why?

We wish Michelangelo a happy birthday today!

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List of images:

Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1502-12

Sistine Chapel, The Last Judgment, 1534-41

Pietà, 1498-1499

St. Peter’s Basilica Dome, 1547-90 (finished after Michelangelo’s death)

Holy Family, 1504-05

David, 1501-04

Study for Libyan Sibyl, 1510-11

Tomb of Pope Julius II, 1505-45