DEVELOPING YOUR STUDIO:

A SIX-PART WORKSHOP SERIES WITH PATRICIA HUNTER-MCGRATH AND OUR BRANCHES TEAM OF EDUCATORS

You may attend any single workshop or all six

Click here to buy tickets.

 

After two long years, we are delighted to welcome you back in-person to Branches Atelier!

Please join us for a special workshop series that focuses on The Hundred Languages of Children and how you can use these languages to design a studio/atelier in your school or home. Over six sessions, we will explore in-depth a wide range of materials, tools, and techniques that can be introduced and integrated into your own unique settings.

 From the introduction, tools, and techniques to the care and organization of materials to using these marvelous materials to support and uncover children learning to creating ateliers in your home or school, join us as we share our many years of experience using the Hundred languages in creative and innovative ways with young children. As you are exploring the materials, you will simultaneously create a personalized materials resource guide that you will be able to use for years to come.

 Finally, you will also learn how to plan and create ateliers that will bring the joy and wonder of materials into your classrooms and homes.

 

1) Introduction to Materials and the Atelier and Exploring the Alphabet of Drawing

Saturday, May 7th, 2022, 9 am to 3 pm $100 

–       includes a portfolio binder to create a personalized materials resource book

2) Creating a World of Colors: Palettes that Connect us to our World

Saturday, May 28th, 2022, 9 am to 3 pm $115 

–       includes a Color Wheel, paint recipes, a set of tempera paints, and paint cups to take back to your classroom 

3) Pastels and Watercolors             

Saturday, June 4th, 2022, 9 am to 12 pm $65

4) Mixed Media: Bringing the Materials Together

Saturday, June 4th, 2022, 2 pm to 5 pm $75

–       includes a canvas board, collage papers, and acrylic textures

 5) Innovations in Clay 

Saturday, June 25th, 2022, 9 am to 12 pm $85

–       includes a block of clay for your classroom 

 6) Creating an Atelier in Your Space 

Saturday, June 25th, 2022, 2 pm to 4 pm $50

 

All workshops are onsite at:

Branches Atelier 

11359 W Washington Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90066 

For more than 15 years, Branches Atelier has developed an innovative program using expressive media and materials as tools of the mind. We are happy to offer this series of workshops to deeply explore the essential role that materials play in children’s learning. Over six sessions, you will be introduced to the philosophy, techniques, and organizational strategies needed to create dynamic, creative, and innovative ateliers. 

Unlike the traditional art studio that focuses on art production, ateliers are beautiful, creative spaces designed to support all areas of children’s learning and development from math, narrative, and science to creativity and problem-solving. Through the introduction of tools and techniques, you will discover how to use these amazing materials in your homes or classrooms with young children. We will explore how to organize these materials and create ateliers for a wide range of diverse settings and around specific concepts from classrooms to homes, sheds to shelves, both indoors and outdoors. 

 We invite you to attend all or any combination of these workshops. 

All tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite. Click here to buy tickets. 

 Together, we will explore:  

• What is the difference between observational, representational, and imaginative drawing?
• What are the techniques to introduce line tools to children?
• How can drawing be used to help children understand sequencing?
• How can drawing be used to support literacy and mathematics?
• What is drawing to learn?
• How can drawing support literacy, narrative, and poetic language?
• How is drawing used to make relationships and connections visible?
• How can drawing support sequencing and prediction?
• What is the alphabet of drawing?

Included in the cost of this workshop is a portfolio binder that participants will use to create their own materials resource book.

  

2) CREATING A WORLD OF COLORS: PALETTES THAT CONNECT US TO OUR WORLD

– a hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath 

May 28th, 2022, 9 am to 3 pm $115.00 

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keefe

Tempera Paint can be mixed in an infinitely nuanced palette, but how often do we end up creating colors that represent the vitality, diversity, and beauty of the natural world? 

 Join us as we consider how we can use this resource to bring attention to the richness of the environment, including: 

• What are the tricks and tips to creating a wide range of beautiful palettes?
• What are the techniques of paint mixing with children?
• How can color support children learning?
• How can a wide range of paint colors support children’s connection to nature?
• What is the difference between a tone, hue, shade, and tint?
• How can paint and color support literacy and poetic language?

 Included in the cost of this workshop is a Color Wheel, paint cups, and paints that participants can use to create a personal palette that can be taken back to their centers. Participants will also create a paint recipe book that can be used as a tool to create beautiful palettes throughout the year.

  

3) PASTELS AND WATERCOLORS             

– a hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath 

Saturday, June 4th, 2022, 9 am to 12 pm $65.00 

“Because watercolor actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art.” – Nita Engle

 When considering which materials to introduce, the fluidity of these materials and the nature of the relationship between gestures and lines make these materials ideal for supporting a class of individuals in becoming a collaborative group. The creation of initial color palettes with an eye for how these materials can be combined and layered helps draw children’s interests over long periods of exploration.

 

• How are pan pastels, oil pastels, and watercolor media introduced to the children?
• What are the tools and techniques offered to the children?
• How are the materials used to represent children’s ideas?
• How are these materials used to support narrative and communication?
• How are they combined to create new possibilities?

  

4) MIXED MEDIA: BRINGING THE MATERIALS TOGETHER       

– a hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath 

Saturday, June 4th, 2022, 2 pm to 5 pm $75.00 

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse 

 Join us while we explore the possibilities of layering and collage. Combining many different materials and media is a powerful tool for representation and meaning-making. Mixed media can support stories and narratives, scientific thinking, and problem-solving. Its power lies in the ability to endlessly combine and layer different types of materials to create theories, ideas, and new ways to communicate. The potential of different combinations of media invites us to reconsider our perspectives over and over again. 

• What are the techniques of mixed media?
• How mixed media supports literacy?
• How is mixed media used to represent children’s ideas?
• How is the layering of materials introduced to the children?
• How does mixed media become a tool for reflection and collaboration?

Included in the cost of this workshop is a canvas board, collage papers, and acrylic textures. 

  

5) INNOVATIONS AND THE NARRATIVES OF CLAY

– a hands-on workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath 

Saturday, June 25th, 2022, 9 am to 12 pm $85.00

“I like doing clay work. It’s different from drawing on a page because you have something to mold into different shapes. It’s quite visual; it’s a thing you can hold and feel, which makes it different from drawing.” – Bonnie Wright

 Clay is a powerful tool for transformation in children’s hands; it supports stories and narratives, mathematics, and geometry. Its flexibility invites us to reconsider our ideas over and over again. Join us while we explore the wonderful medium of clay and consider how to set up a studio where clay’s potential as a tool for representing children’s ideas can be realized. 

 

Together, we will explore:

• What is the alphabet of clay?
• How can clay support literacy?
• How is clay used to represent children’s ideas?
• How is clay introduced to the children?
• What are the tools and techniques of clay?
• How does clay become a tool for collaboration?

This workshop includes a block of Clay for your classroom.

  

6) CREATING AN ATELIER IN YOUR SPACE

– workshop presented by Patricia Hunter McGrath

 Saturday, June 25th, 2022, 2 pm to 4 pm $50.00

 We will discuss many different kinds of ateliers; indoors, outdoors, on shelves, in cupboards, at home, and in school, as well as where to start and how to create a beautiful atelier for your school, class, or home.

• What organizational strategies do we consider in creating an atelier?
• How is the care of the atelier and materials introduced to the children?
• How do you create a place for imagination, creativity, and problem-solving?
• What kind of storage is best for the materials?
• How can you design an atelier within your environmental constraints?

We invite you to attend all or any combination of these workshops. 

All tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite. Click here to buy tickets. 

 In order to attend workshops please bring proof of vaccination or negative Covid test