Category: Art

If you are an art enthusiast and looking to expand your artistic skills, East End Arts offers the perfect solution: printmaking classes. In today’s digital world, printmaking might seem like a lost art, but it is an incredibly versatile and rewarding medium that will help you elevate your creative abilities.

At East End Arts, we provide all the resources you need to explore the captivating world of printmaking, including access to a professional printing press. Here are the top three reasons why you should try printmaking at East End Arts.

Access to a Professional Printing Press

Printmaking requires specialized equipment, particularly a printing press, which is difficult to find or set up in a home studio. East End Arts provides a state-of-the-art printing press for all its members, ensuring that you can experiment with this unique medium without any barriers.

Once you’ve completed a printmaking class, you will have access to the printing press to continue your artistic journey and create an unlimited number of prints.

Master a New Skill and Boost Your Artistic Potential

Taking a printmaking class at East End Arts enables you to acquire a new skill set that enhances your artistic bandwidth. By learning the intricacies of various printmaking techniques, such as woodblock printing, solar plate, etching, and silkscreen, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge and experience to create innovative pieces. Developing this new skill not only elevates your art but also adds a valuable dimension to your artistic portfolio, setting you apart from your peers.

Expand Your Creative Horizons

Participating in a printmaking class will broaden your understanding of art and expose you to new possibilities for self-expression. Printmaking will challenge you to think differently about how you create, while simultaneously deepening your appreciation for this centuries-old tradition.

By learning to work with various materials and techniques, you will discover new ways to communicate your ideas and emotions through your art, ultimately expanding your creative horizons.

Conclusion

If you appreciate art and are looking to grow as an artist, a printmaking class at East End Arts is an excellent way to begin your journey. Not only will you have access to the necessary equipment, but you’ll also unlock new avenues of creativity, learn different techniques, and expand your artistic knowledge.

So why wait? Sign up for a printmaking class at East End Arts and experience the transformative power of this unique medium.

As parents, we are always seeking the best for our children, including providing them with diverse experiences and opportunities to grow. Engaging in extracurricular activities can be a valuable way to help children develop skills beyond the classroom.

Among the many options available, art as an extracurricular activity stands out as a fantastic choice with numerous benefits. East End Art’s Art School offers private and group art classes and workshops for kids and teens, making it an excellent extracurricular activity for students.

This article will showcase the numerous benefits of choosing art for your child.

The Development of Cognitive Abilities

Enhancing Creativity

Art activities stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving skills in children. Whether it’s painting, drawing, or sculpting, these activities encourage them to use their imagination and think outside the box. East End Art’s Art School offers various classes, ensuring there’s a creative outlet for every child.

Boosting Critical Thinking Skills

Art is not just about creating; it also involves analysis and interpretation. When children engage with artwork, they develop critical thinking skills, which are transferable to other areas of their lives. East End Art’s Art School focuses on nurturing this ability, fostering well-rounded young thinkers.

Encouraging Observational Skills

Art demands careful observation and attention to detail. When children engage in art as an extracurricular activity, they develop the ability to notice subtleties, improving focus and attention spans. These skills are essential for success in any field.

Supporting Spatial Intelligence

Art helps children understand and manipulate objects in space. Activities such as drawing and sculpting require the ability to perceive size, distance, and location, ultimately developing spatial intelligence. This skill is critical for various tasks, including navigating one’s environment and performing everyday activities.

Socio-Emotional Benefits

Building Confidence and Self-Esteem

Art as an extracurricular activity can significantly impact a child’s self-confidence and self-esteem. Creating and sharing artwork fosters a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Positive feedback from teachers and peers at East End Art’s Art School can be instrumental in building a strong self-image.

Encouraging Emotional Expression and Communication

Art offers a healthy outlet for children to express their emotions, facilitating emotional well-being. Moreover, art encourages empathy and understanding among peers, as they learn to appreciate each other’s unique perspectives and experiences.

Developing Interpersonal Skills

Group art activities promote teamwork and collaboration, essential interpersonal skills for any social environment. East End Art’s Art School offers classes that encourage children to work together on projects like collaborative murals, fostering strong connections and cooperation.

Cultural Awareness and Appreciation

Exposure to Diverse Art Forms and Artists

Art education exposes children to different styles, techniques, and artists from various cultural backgrounds. This exposure fosters understanding and appreciation of diversity in art, ultimately enriching their lives. At East End Art’s Art School, students learn about different artistic traditions, broadening their horizons and expanding their knowledge.

Promoting Tolerance and Open-mindedness

Studying different cultures through their art can foster tolerance and open-mindedness. By learning about the perspectives, values, and experiences of various cultures, children challenge stereotypes and misconceptions. Art as an extracurricular activity can play a vital role in cultivating a more inclusive and empathetic society.

Life Skills and Future Opportunities

Time Management and Organization Skills

Art projects often require planning, scheduling, and resource management. As children engage in art activities, they learn essential time management and organizational skills that will benefit them in all aspects of life.

Career Opportunities

Choosing art as an extracurricular activity can open doors to a range of potential career paths in the future. Fine artist, graphic designer, art teacher, and art therapist are just a few examples of careers related to art. Additionally, creative professionals are in growing demand in various industries, such as advertising, entertainment, and technology.

Conclusion

In conclusion, choosing art as an extracurricular activity offers a wealth of benefits for your child. From cognitive and socio-emotional development to cultural awareness and life skills, art can play a crucial role in shaping well-rounded individuals.

East End Art’s Art School, with its private and group classes for kids and teens, is an excellent choice for parents looking to provide their children with an enriching and educational experience outside the classroom.

Consider enrolling your child in art classes at East End Arts to support their growth and development in all areas of life.

The Riverhead community has a vibrant and rich art scene. And it’s not the exclusive purview of adults. East End Arts offers fun and engaging art classes for kids of all ages! From painting to jewelry making, your child can explore their inner artist and learn to express themselves in new ways.

Art instruction promotes creativity, self-expression, and confidence. When children explore their creative side, they open up a new world of possibilities and experiences, helping them to grow and learn. 

With so many options, there is a class to fit every kid’s creative needs and schedule. Classes, workshops, camps, and private art lessons are available and many are offered all year long. 

Unlock your child’s inner artist – explore the Long Island art classes offered by East End Arts!

Art Classes

After school, home school, and Saturday art classes for kids are the foundation of the children’s art program at East End Arts. These classes offer an array of fun and educational activities designed to unleash the artist in your child. 

These classes are offered at levels from beginner to intermediate and are the perfect way for kids to get creative. Depending on the course you select, your child will be exposed to different mediums and artists. 

Multi-media classes teach more than art. They promote critical thinking, planning, and focused attention.

Art Workshops for Kids

Art workshops consist of one or two hyper-focused sessions dedicated to a specific skill, medium, or genre. During these sessions, kids explore new techniques and flex their artistic skills. Because workshops are limited to one or two classes, it provides a great way for your child to try out photography, painting, jewelry-making, or one of the many other artistic avenues they have yet to explore.

The limited duration also makes art workshops the perfect art class option for kids already involved with sports, scouts, or other extracurricular activities. 

Private Art Lessons for Kids

Private lessons offer the ultimate in flexibility and personalization. They can be tailored to your child’s skill level and school schedule.  With private lessons, some children that may feel intimidated in a group setting have the opportunity to shine and grow.

As their skill increases, so does their confidence. Ignite your child’s imagination and nurture their artistic growth in a safe and supportive environment with private art lessons. 

Long Island Art Camps for Kids

Just because school is out doesn’t mean the learning must stop. 

Week-long camps consist of half-day or full-day programs. Fine arts camps explore drawing and painting, portraiture, molding, and sculpting among other topics. General arts camps combine the literary and visual arts to create engaging programs that stretch the mind and the imagination. 

Summer and winter break art camps foster creativity and allow children the opportunity to develop an appreciation for art. Whether they attend one session or go all summer long, art campers build their own community right here in Riverhead. 

Why Art Classes for Kids are Important

Art classes offer kids an abundance of benefits, from fostering creativity and self-expression to boosting confidence and problem-solving skills. The Long Island art classes for kids at East End Arts give youth the freedom to explore their inner artists as they delve into different mediums, master new techniques, and develop an appreciation for a variety of art. Your child will look at the world in a new way when they view it through the lens of color, shape, and form.

Unleash your child’s inner artist with art classes from East End Arts.

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The art world is a delightful place to wander. It is filled with an abundance of artists and diverse mediums and styles. There’s much to discover and learn about.  If you are thinking about how to start an art collection but don’t know where to start, East End Arts can help. Just follow these tips, keep an open mind, and stay curious. Collecting art is a rich and rewarding experience and doesn’t have to break the bank. 

Set a Budget

Before you browse that first online gallery or grab your sunglasses for your first outdoor art fair, you need to set a budget.

You wouldn’t invest in stocks, bonds, or precious metals without first determining a budget, your art collection is no different. When you start an art collection, you are starting a new investment portfolio.

Not only should you determine how much you want to spend, but you should also determine how you will use the amount budgeted. Is your budget for 6 months or an entire year? Are you budgeting for a single $1,000 acquisition or four $250 pieces?

As a newbie, you’ll want to focus on quality over quantity. Your budget will probably change over time, so it’s important that those early pieces are pieces with real value. 

Determine Your Objective

So, why do you want to start an art collection? 

If your objective is purely a return on your investment, then your acquisitions will need to focus on mid-career or established artists. These artists have already created a track record that you can use to judge the value of their art. Unfortunately, this means you’ll focus on acquiring more expensive work right from the start.

Are you starting your art collection for aesthetic reasons? Are you looking to enhance your home or office space? If this is your objective, don’t skip over a piece of art because you think it is undervalued. If you love it, you should purchase it!

Humble New York art collectors Herbert and Dorothy Vogel only bought pieces they personally liked and could carry on the subway or in a taxi to their one-bedroom apartment home. They ended up with over 4,500 works stashed in every corner of their rent-controlled Manhattan apartment. Their clearly established objectives made it easier for them to add to their collection, even on a small budget (he worked for the post office – she for the library).

Start Visiting Local Galleries and Art Fairs

Now that you know why you are starting an art collection and your budget, it’s time to have some fun! Immerse yourself in the art world starting with your local galleries and art fairs. 

Special events such as the Summer Soiree and Mosaic Street Festival are a fun way to see works from a wide variety of local artists. And buying from a local artist is a great strategy for maximizing your art budget.

In addition, visit local art galleries. This is a great way to expose yourself to an array of artworks, mediums, and styles. 

The more you look at art, the more you will begin to see differences in techniques, styles, and mediums. You’ll start to identify the artist by the art.  In addition, you’ll begin to understand the art you love, and your eyes will be trained to spot it right away.

Check out Pinterest and Instagram. Once you identify artists you like, follow them on social media. 

Browsing art will also help you identify the categories of art you may want to collect. 

Identify the Categories of Art for Your Collection 

Do the sculptures at the local gallery speak to you? Or are your eyes drawn to black-and-white photography?

With so many mediums on the market, it’s important to identify the categories of art you want to collect. 

Limited edition prints

Have you found an artist you adore but whose original pieces are out of your budget? Look for limited edition prints. 

These alternatives to originals will cost less, but because their production is limited, they retain value. Signed limited edition prints hold a special value. 

Photography

Like limited edition prints, photography prints cost less than original paintings or drawings. Look for local artists and local subjects and scenes for an even closer connection to your art. Some artists only produce prints upon commission while others produce a limited number of prints. 

Original artwork

Original, one-of-a-kind paintings and drawings may cost more than limited edition prints, but they are unique after all. 

If you’ve fallen in love with an established artist and are looking for entry-level pieces, consider some of their smaller works. You still get the soul of the artist, just in a smaller and more affordable piece. 

Sculpture

Don’t overlook sculpture as an artist’s medium. These three-dimensional pieces of art make lovely display pieces in your home or office. Well-made objects add interest to a collection of two-dimensional art pieces and can be an affordable option. 

Local art fairs and galleries are great hunting grounds for this type of art. 

Collect the Art You Love

Whatever you add to your collection, make sure it is something that brings you joy. Whether it’s the colors or movement in the piece, the way it makes you feel, or the memories it calls to mind, buy art that speaks to you. 

Your art collection will become a true expression of who you are and what brings you pleasure.

Parents want to give their child every opportunity to grow and succeed. But with only so many hours available in a day, it is hard to choose from the wide range of extracurricular activities available. You don’t want to overload your child, but you want them to engage in activities that are fun and teach skills that will help them in school and in adult life.

You can’t go wrong with art as an extracurricular activity. The benefits of art for children extend far beyond the classroom and stay with the child well into adulthood. 

Here are five ways art benefits students of all ages.  

#1 Builds Fine Motor Skills and Neural Connections 

Creating through art teaches fine motor skills, promotes neural development, and improves visual-spatial processing. Each of these improvements can be applied to academic study subjects such as reading, writing, math, and science. 

Art establishes the physical and neural network necessary to achieve success in other endeavors. 

When children hold a paintbrush, pencil, crayon, or pen and then draw lines, curves, dots and dashes they gain dexterity and coordination. Just the act of mixing colors, cutting something with scissors, or squeezing glue out of a bottle requires coordination. From creating with playdough to tearing strips of paper for paper mâché, these hand motions require coordination with the eyes and increasing levels of strength and manual agility. A young child’s early scribbling increases hand strength so that writing is easier. 

Art engages multiple senses. Depending on the activity, children see, hear, touch, and smell. And of course, what small child hasn’t tasted paste or glue? By engaging the senses neural synapses fire away creating more and more neural connections. Increasing the size of the neural network can improve learning performance. Research shows additional connections make it easier to learn a new task. But children don’t see making art as learning, they just think they are having fun. 

Creating art requires visual-spatial processing as well. As children grow through their art, their visual-spatial processing improves. With each drawing or painting, objects gain the correct proportions and relationship in size. That’s improved visual-spatial processing in action!

#2 Enhances Creative Abilities and Encourages Imagination 

When a child creates art, they experience real-world achievement. Taking an idea from inspiration to a finished product requires logical thinking and problem-solving skills as well. These thinking skills translate to other areas of life where problem-solving is essential.

Art teaches children to think outside the box.  Through their art, children learn how to be original, how to discover through manipulating colors and textures, and how to innovate as they create new ways to tackle the same subject. Children engaged in art in elementary and middle school become better thinkers and once they enter the workforce, they become innovators in their field. 

Almost everyone knows Leonardo da Vinci was an artist and inventor. But what about Samuel Morse? The founder of the Morse code and pioneer in the field of electromagnetics was also an accomplished painter. 

John Audubon is known as much for his scientific work as he is for his art. But those are people from the past, what about current-day creatives?

Barbara Corcoran, Queen of New York real estate, says creativity is vital to success in business. In one interview she shared, “I was labeled the dumb kid in school because I couldn’t read or write. But from a young age, my mom made sure I knew my biggest strength was my imagination. My imagination took me further than book smarts ever could. I learned to use my creativity in business, and it was the secret sauce to my success.”

#3 Improves Communication 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words for a reason. By making art, children learn to speak without words and to express emotions and feelings without tears of joy or outbursts of anger. 

Through art, a child learns to express feelings and memories using more than just words. For children that are coping with trauma, the loss of a parent or caregiver, divorce, or other distress, making art can be an avenue for release and create a sense of relief. 

During the turbulent teen years, art allows young adults to express the jumble of feelings and emotions they may keep locked up inside.  For many teens, art becomes a cathartic experience that provides an avenue of relief.

All children benefit from reducing big feelings and ideas to a more manageable size. By manipulating movement, size, and color children gain a sense of control. 

By boosting their ability to communicate without words, children find a voice they didn’t know they had. Oral and written communication skills can improve as a result. 

#4 Boosts Self-Esteem

When they see the results of their own work, children are self-validated. Their boost in self-esteem comes not from the words of others but from their own sense of accomplishment.

Where math, science, and grammar classes are filled with right and wrong answers, with art there is no good and bad. Incorrectly solving a mathematical problem can be frustrating and upsetting. Until you memorize the formula, you fail again and again. But trying a new art medium or style doesn’t result in success or failure. That’s because exploration is just as important as the finished product. 

Children enjoy a gain of authentic self-esteem through their art exploration. They are less focused on their own lack of confidence and more focused on what they know they can achieve through their efforts. This creates a positive feedback loop that improves self-esteem as they stretch and try new things.

#5 Builds Connection and Community

Art immediately creates a common ground for children who may feel socially uncomfortable or awkward around their peers. Making art side-by-side builds an instant community. Children learn to support the efforts of others, have empathy for the feelings of others, and most importantly how to have a good time in a group setting like at the East End Arts Mosaic Festival. 

Confidence replaces feelings of insecurity and anxiety as art brings children of all races and backgrounds together for a common purpose. 

Long Island Art Lessons for Children

The East End Arts & Music School offers group and individual lessons in a variety of mediums. Programs are available all year and scholarships are provided for those who qualify.

Click here to explore art classes at the East End Arts & Music School.