WAC offers a variety of classes and workshops for children and adults.
Children’s Summer Art Camp
Under the direction and instruction of Mrs. Monica Schraiber Otero, Art Camp is a three-week program during the month of July for ages 6-12. Focusing on Creativity, Imagination and Ingenuity, Art Camp offers children a unique opportunity to acquire or improve artistic skills, learn new techniques, explore different media and get inspired by famous artists. All, while having fun! Surrounded by the beauty of the Watchung Mountains, students appreciate both Art and Nature as they draw and paint outdoor scenes and have picnic lunches at Best Lake. Free T-Shirt for all campers.
The theme of this year’s Art Camp is MODERN ART — American and European Masters. Students learn about Picasso, van Gogh, Matisse, O’Keefe, Cezanne, Monet, Homer, Pollock, among others. Pieces based on the theme will be created daily (projects vary every week!)
Students draw using wet and dry media, sculpt with air-dry clay, make masks, paint, build structures using recycled materials, create prints, collages and much more! Workshops in different disciplines are scheduled throughout the week. NEW! In each cycle, participants will create a small acrylic painting on canvas boards suitable for framing! Final Exhibition — Art Camp culminates with a student show in the Lower Gallery featuring works from all three cycles. Relatives and friends are welcome to attend the opening reception (date TBA).
Three cycles, Monday through Friday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. (please bring a bag lunch).
Cycle I: July 9 – July 13
Cycle II: July 16 – July 20
Cycle III: July 23 – July 27
Class fees: All three cycles, $255/cycle; any two cycles, $270/cycle; single cycle, $299. $10 member discount. Early Bird Discount: $15 for registrations received by June 12, 2012. Download the registration form.
Instructor: Monica Schraiber Otero.
Children’s Art Enrichment Program
The 2011-2012 Children’s Art Enrichment Program features a Painting Enrichment Workshop and a Drawing Enrichment Workshop. Each cycle introduces new techniques and works to young artists.
Classes alternate Tuesday and Thursday dates each season. Sibling discount of $10 applied after first sibling paid in full. Please bring a small snack and drink to class.
Spring Class Schedule
The Drawing Enrichment Workshop allows young artists to develop their natural ability, improve skills and explore new techniques as they learn the fundamentals of drawing. Students will use dry and wet media such as pencil, charcoal, oil or chalk pastels, India ink and watercolors as they discover how to sketch, shade and use perspective. Projects will include still lifes, portraits, landscapes in natural settings (weather permitting), optical illusions, abstracts and more!
TUESDAYS from 4:30 — 6 p.m. (8 weeks)
April 17, 24; May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; June 5
In the Painting Enrichment Workshop, students create realistic pieces or let their imaginations go as they learn how to use non-toxic acrylics on canvas boards. Young artists will produce colorful works as they learn the basics of traditional technique of painting, composition and the color wheel. See what made Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso famous!
THURSDAYS from 4:30 — 6 p.m. (8 weeks)
April 12, 19, 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Fees: $105.00 plus $15 supplies fee, $120 total
(members: $100 plus $15 supplies fee, $115 total)
Download the registration form.
Instructor: Monica Schraiber Otero has taught Art at elementary and high school levels since 1991. She received her BA in Art from Rutgers University, Newark College of Arts and Sciences with a concentration in oil painting. She teaches Drawing and Painting classes at WAC, is the Director of the Summer Art Camp, and curates the Children's Juried Art Exhibition each year. She is a professional artist who shows her work in many venues throughout NJ. She is a member of AENJ (Art Educators of NJ) and the Contemporary Art Group.
Yoga
The physical body…is not something separate from our mind and soul. (BKS IYENGAR)
Spring 2012
General: 12 weeks, Monday, April 16, through Saturday, July 7.
| Level I | Mondays | 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. |
| Intro/Level I | Mondays | 7:30 – 8:45 p.m. |
| Embodied Anatomy & Yoga (Susan) | Tuesdays | 9:45 - 11:00 a.m. |
| Level I/II | Tuesdays | 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. |
| Level III | Tuesdays | 7:30 – 8:45 p.m. |
| Level II | Fridays | 8:15 – 9:30 a.m. |
| Gentle/Intro | Fridays | 10:00 – 11:15 a.m. |
| All Levels | Saturdays | 8:30 – 9:45 a.m. |
Fee: $160 for one series, any 10 classes out of 12; $300 for 2 series; additional class of same series: $12, Watchung Arts Center member discount: $5
Special:
| Restorative | Thursdays | 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. |
Fee: $80 for 5 classes: April 26; May 10 and 24; June 7 and 21.
For registration and information, contact Renata at 908-754-8433 or yoreca@aol.com. Please make checks payable to the Watchung Arts Center. Download the flyer and registration form.
Instructors:
Renata Cardinal is Iyengar Yoga certified. Visit www.iynaus.org.
In the mid-nineties she started training with Certified Iyengar Teacher
Theresa Rowland and became a certified Studio Yoga Teacher in 1998. She was certified as an
Iyengar Yoga Instructor in 2004, and is also registered at the 500 Level with Yoga Alliance.
She continues to study with Ms Rowland and takes many workshops and classes with renowned Yoga
Teachers.
*Susan Ahlstrom, RYT, Studio Yoga Certified, Teacher of Embodied Anatomy and Yoga,
has been teaching yoga since 1996. Susan is registered with Yoga Alliance. Ongoing studies include
Developmental Patterns & Yoga and Infant Developmental Movement Education. She also took advanced
studies in Yoga with a number of teachers, including BKS and Geeta Iyengar.
Photography
Unique Vision Workshop
2012 Meeting Schedule:
Mondays: Mar 19, May 21, Jul 23, Sep 10, Nov 12
Tuesdays: Feb 21, Apr 24, Jun 19, Aug 21, Oct 23
Meetings start at 7 p.m. Each session begins with a discussion of a timely creativity issue, followed by a critique from all of us, of ALL the photos you bring. We suggest 4 x 6 prints attached to display boards available from Staples (approx $7). What doesn’t fit on the board, INCLUDING THE REJECTS, should be brought as well. We study all the images, search for a direction that you might have overlooked, find relationships between the images. OK to bring matted prints, contact sheets of slides, if you prefer.
Fee: $5/session you attend. All proceeds to Watchung Arts Center.
All Children’s Theatre —
Performing Arts Day Camps Return
“ACT” — the very descriptive acronym for All Children’s Theatre — will return to the WAC for its 17th anniversary in August! The well-known and highly acclaimed Performing Arts Day Camps for boys and girls ages 6 to 17 “playingly” lives its motto “Where Every Child Is A Star.”
The Creative Dramatics Camp is geared for children who want to create, develop, write and perform in their own show. The Broadway Kids Camp gives kids various facets of the theatrical experience. They learn about singing along with acting and dancing using music from a variety of Broadway musicals from the Rogers and Hammerstein classics to more contemporary shows such as “Grease” and others.
Both camps give children an opportunity to put together theatrical productions from rehearsal and make-up to modest scenery painting and performing. The program begins with Creative Dramatics Camp, August 6 – 17, followed by Broadway Kids Camp, August 20 – 31. Camps run for two weeks per session, or sign up for both. Both camps end in dress rehearsals and evening performances in front of a live audience in the Upper Gallery on the last camp day of each session.
For program details or to download a day camp registration form, go to www.allchildrenstheatre.org, or call their office at (973) 335-5328.
NEW! Saturday Children & Teen Art Workshops
A three-session program for students ages 6 - 15, where they will explore different disciplines, techniques, skills, and materials used to create both representational and abstract projects. Sign up for one session at a time or all three! Program Creator & Instructor: Monica Schraiber Otero.
May 5, 12, 19
Ages 6-10: 10 a.m.-12 noon
Ages 11-15: 1-3 p.m.
The same program will be offered at different times for each age group.
Drawing: Get inspired and observe nature as you create a beautiful outdoor scene using oil pastels with easy step-by-step instruction! Wear comfortable clothes and bring a snack! - $30
Mixed-Media: Work on an abstract piece on paper using different materials to create a mixed-media collage! Bring interesting magazine cutouts or small drawings to be used in the piece as you learn about balance, unity, color, shape, and line! Bring a smock and a snack! - $30
Painting: Create an exciting still life on canvas using acrylic paints! Work on an easel and feel like a real artist! Excellent for first timers and great practice for experienced painters! Bring a smock and a snack! - $30
Great value: $80 for all 3 workshops. (Fee includes supplies.)
Download the flyer and registration form.
Taming the Monkey Mind —
Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation
Forgot How to Relax? Mindfulness Meditation is a 2,500-year-old Buddhist practice that is increasingly relevant for the crazy and stressful time in which we live. Many of us feel that our lives are out of control; so much to do, always thinking and planning, and never catching up. It is as though we have forgotten how to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Meditation is a means of stepping aside from this ongoing life drama for a few minutes each day to calm down, clear your mind, and gain a better perspective on things. You return to your daily life feeling refreshed, restored, and a little wiser.
In each one-hour class, visiting instructor and life coach, Kerry Alan Rasp, will offer basic instructions in mindfulness meditation, lead a guided meditation, share simple techniques to calm the monkey mind, and allow time for discussion. The class itself is a relaxing and quieting, engaging experience.
Classes will run for 5 consecutive weeks, Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: May 17, 24, & 31, and June 7 & 14.
FEES: $80 five-week subscription ($75 WAC members), $18 walk-ins (please complete registration first class only). Download the flyer/registration form.
Instructor: Kerry Alan Rasp is a meditation instructor, MBSR facilitator and life coach. He completed his training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with Jon Kabat-Zinn at the UMass Medical Center in 2000 and at Coach U in 2001. Kerry has been practicing meditation, primarily in the Theravada tradition for over 12 years and his teachers include Joseph Goldstein, Christopher Titmuss, Jack Kornfield, Stephen Batchelor, Bikkhu Bodhi and Shinzen Young.
He is on staff at Summit Psychological Services, a psychotherapy practice in New Jersey, and teaches meditation at Montclair State University. He regularly leads meditation groups throughout the NY/NJ metro area, and workshops to a variety of companies and organizations. He also enjoys traveling around the country sharing the experience of mindfulness wherever he goes.
Those who most benefit from his training include young adults, parents, caregivers, entrepreneurs, who are in transition, stressed out, in chronic pain or anyone seeking to live a clear minded, simple andfulfilling life.
Artistry of Dance Spring Programs
Dancesport champions Sergei and Olga Bezrodnov will get students out on the dance floor FAST, looking and feeling confident and assured. Singles and couples welcome — no partner necessary with group lessons for adults and juniors and a special program for adult beginners. Find out all about it on our Dance Page.
Open Studio for Life Painting and Drawing
Long pose figure sessions with class facilitator, artist Maryann Ficker.
Classes will feature one model maintaining the same pose for all four sessions. This provides artists enough time to complete a figure painting or detailed drawing. Open to all artists and is non-instructional. This session will feature a nude model. We will have both clothed and nude models in future sessions.
Artists ages 15 - 18 must have a signed letter of parental permission accompanying their completed registration prior to admittance to class.
NEW DAY - Thursdays, 7:30 - 10 p.m., May 24 & 31, June 7 & 14. FEE: $50 for 4 sessions. Class size is small (capped at 8 artists) and filled on a first-come first-served basis. Walk-ins welcome, space permitting, for $15 each session. Reservations required one day in advance. Download the flyer/registration form.
Workshop and Class Policies:
The Watchung Arts Center’s classes are filled on a first-come first-served basis. Registrations are accepted when they are accompanied by a completed registration form and payment in full.
Refund Policy: 3 or more weeks prior to start of classes, full refund less $25 registration fee. Up to 2 weeks prior to start of classes, 50% refund. No refunds thereafter or due to inclement weather. The Watchung Arts Center reserves the right to cancel a class with low enrollment or to make changes in courses, instructors or scheduling.
Payment by check or money order only (please make payable to Watchung Arts Center). You will be contacted by the Instructor prior to class.