Art Programs and Projects

Cheryl Pannabecker- Artist

Cheryl received a BA from Bluffton College in 1986 and an MFA in Ceramic Sculpture from the University of Cincinnati in 1990. She has taught Three Dimensional Design and Ceramics at Thomas More College, University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University. Cheryl leads Art and Nature workshops at senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living centers. Presently, she gives art workshops and lessons through Creative Aging Cincinnati and through the Alzheimer's Association and teaches community education classes at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Cheryl exhibits her artwork regularly and was included in the 2007 "Essence of a Thing" show at the Weston Gallery in downtown Cincinnati.

Cheryl offers 14 art classes to choose from:

1.  All that Glitters: Did you know that working with sparkly substances goes back to cave painting? We will learn the history of glitter, and then create our own sparkly masterpieces, transforming simple collage pictures we will make into glittery creations using the wide array of glitter products now available.  This project can easily be transformed into a Holiday or Valentine’s project.
   
   
2. Wild West: We will look at famed Western Artist Frederic Remington’s life and art. Participants will proceed to create their own Western –inspired watercolor painting.  Cheryl will help people create a Western landscape and bring in patterns – i.e. horse, cactus, cowboy -- artists can trace and use to individualize their paintings.
   
   
3. Gargoyles and Grotesques: Gargoyles and Grotesques not only had their practical function on medieval church buildings, but also spiritual.  We will learn about their past and the symbolism of some of the various creatures used. Cheryl will bring in assorted patterns that artists can arrange and trace to come up with their own fantastical creatures.  Artists will learn to create a watercolor sky backdrop to adequately show off their creatures, ending up with an original watercolor painting.
   
   
4. Deck the Halls!: We will look at the history of transforming interior spaces with plant material during the cold, long nights of the winter months.  Then we will create simple metal ornaments to adorn Holiday Greenery with. Cheryl will be bringing in assorted Evergreens, pinecones and cinnamon.  Participants will create their own fragrant door swags or arrangements in vases for their enjoyment in the Christmas season. We will exercise our creativity by making a unique decoration for these greenery bouquets with holiday aluminum metal shapes that can be designed, textured and colored.
   
   
5. Sea Shell Art: Cultures living along the oceans have often incorporated seashells into their crafts and artwork. We will look at images of how shells have been used. We will then create our own picture using an assortment of shells and colored sand.
   
   
6. French Symbolists: We will be looking at their moody dreamlike paintings that are highly illustrative. We will then make our own “symbolist” art. Each participant will choose three symbols—both collage and stamp elements-- to incorporate into a painting. How these symbols are juxtaposed and colored, will determine a new and unique story. Participants will work with acrylic paints on canvas paper.
   
   
7. Odilon Redon: perhaps one of the best known symbolists, became most famous for his wonderful pastel drawings of floral bouquets. We will look at his work, and then create our own pastel picture of a flower arrangement. Participants will have the option of including (through tracing) a silhouette of a face – as Redon was known to often do.
   
   
8. The Golden Age of Carousel Art-Merry-Go-Rounds have been around for many centuries. American artisans took Carousel Art to a whole new level in the late 1800s. We will look at pictures of some beautiful and whimsical creations. Properly inspired, we will assemble our own carousel animals. While horses are quite common now, a whole menagerie of animals are used to make up the merry-go-round entourage. Artists can choose which beast to work with. We'll be using mixed media to create these colorful 3D creatures
   
   
9. Tiny Miracles of Beauty-Learn about the man who coined the phrase, "no two snowflakes are alike" -- Wilson Alwyn "Snowflake" Bentley. Bentley was the first person to photograph snowflakes. We will look at some of the stunning pictures he took, and then create our own snowflakes.
   
   
10. Tiffany Glass-American artist and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany was best known for his stained glass. We will look at his work, which played an important part of the Art Nouveau movement. After looking at his artwork, we'll create our own window art.
    
    
11. Art of the Card-Participants will learn about the worldwide Origins of the greeting card, from Egypt and China to its popular commercial developments in the U.S. Each senior will then create their own colorful card, using collage elements, stamps and paints. Cheryl can design the project to take into account the time of year or approaching holiday.
    
    
12. Color and Shape Explorations-Artists will work with pre-cut colorful bleeding tissue paper to create their own composition. We will go back into these creations with paints, watercolor pastels and salt to make some unique paintings.
    
    
13. Winter Landscape-Cheryl offers this mixed media painting program where participants will create snowy scenes combining collage, acrylic paint, textured white paint and crystals. Past artists, including Picasso, will inspire our work as we use color, texture and images to make original paintings that celebrate the winter months.
    
    
14. Watercolor & Nature-Cheryl uses natural materials associated with the season. She will help participants arrange objects on watercolor paper to create a composition. These arrangements will be the foundation of a watercolor painting. Participants will use watercolor pencils and paints to make colorful paintings, accenting and responding to the shapes and patterns in their pictures.

The Cincinnati Art Museum offers classes by the Speaker's Bureau:

1. NEW! Highlights of the CAM Part 1-A presentation featuring the diversity of the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection, concentrating on masterpieces in painting, sculpture and other media from the ancient world to Impressionism.

2. NEW! Highlights of the CAM Part 2-A presentation featuring the diversity of the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection, concentrating on masterpieces in painting, sculpture and other media from Impressionism to the present day

3. NEW! Designing Women: Cincinnati’s Dressmakers - Encounter the best in women’s fashion from the late 19^th and early 20^th century, and learn about Cincinnati women designers who made it happen. 

4. NEW! The Art of Cincinnati- Celebrate Cincinnati’s rich cultural heritage with this presentation of art from Cincinnati, including works by artists such as John Henry Twachtman, Frank Duveneck, Edward Potthast, Robert Duncanson, Rookwood potters, and more!

5. NEW! Landscapes in Art -For centuries, artists have found great inspiration in the landscape. Discover the variety of ways in which the landscape has been portrayed in art through a wide selection of examples from the Art Museum’s collection. You’ll never see a panoramic vista the same!

6. NEW! American Art- Celebrate the artistic legacy of our country by taking a tour of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from a wide variety of accomplished American artists! Many of works often reflect American history and values, while others create a vision for the future.

7. NEW! Gods and Goddesses-Learn about art from various cultures and time periods that examines how polytheistic religions are reflected and expressed in these works.

8. Beauty Has No Age-Examine these exceptional works created by artists in their later years and thoughtful portrayals of older adults in art over the centuries.
   
   
9. African American Art-This program provides slides and information about art by African American artists. A variety of media including sculpture, glass, painting and photography will be discussed.
   
   
10. Outside The Ordinary- An Exhibit of David and Nancy Wolf's collection of Glass, Wood and Ceramic Art. The exhibit includes many colorful, contemporary pieces from the Wolf Collection.
    
    *These programs are provided to facilities inside the 275 loop.

M.Y. Card Creations with Mary Young

Everyone enjoys receiving a beautiful card. Your seniors will create cards using card making techniques for a professional look and quality. The cards are simple, rewarding and they capture messages of love to family and friends. A card for every occasion whether a holiday, theme day or just to say "hello". The cards are pre-cut to work with the ability of the seniors. Mary has six years of experience working in activities at Eldermount Adult Day Program and has worked with various levels of abilities. This program is available on Fridays and is for a group of up to 12 seniors. *This artist will travel inside the 275 loop only.

Mike Gillman- Artist

Mike is a retired public school art teacher who enjoys working with people of all ages. With his many years of experience in the classroom he has many tried and true lessons that everyone will enjoy. He includes many famous examples of art related to the lesson with interesting stories about the artists that created them. At the end of each lesson, the class will have beautiful handmade arts or crafts to be displayed or given as gifts to someone special to them. Mike has many lessons for special events and holidays.

Mike offers 9 art classes to choose from:

1. Color Pastel chalk drawings are done from a variety of subjects (seascapes, flowers, horses, unicorns, landscapes, etc) pencil sketched by the teacher. The class will use the chalks after a demonstration with individual attention from the teacher.
2. Oil Pastel drawing has a beautiful oil like affect (without the mess and odor of oil paint) on white or colored paper and the finished art works have a rich and vibrant quality to them. Many subjects can be drawn under the individual care of the teacher.
3. Painting with colored pencils is a unique media because it allows detailed drawings that when brushed with water look like a painting. A group of subjects are shown and demonstrated with the teacher giving special attention to each person.
4. Quilt designs are beautiful works of art made from pre-cut squares and triangles on a piece of colored square paper. The demonstration begins with a quilt shape glued (with glue stick-no mess) at the center that is continued to the outside.
5. 3-D paper sculptures are made by making simple paper balls with easy to make parts taped to them. The subjects can be animals and sports mascots that have a playful cartoon effect when completed.
6. Self hardening sculpture clay is a fun project that simple animal forms, flowers, birds, fruit, etc. can be made under the individual attention from the teacher. The miniature pieces can make beautiful gifts.
7. Stenciling is a great lesson using cut out shapes. The class is given tempra paint and stencil brushes with colored paper to create their art.
8. Dot drawing is done with colored markers to make a variety of designs in flowers, sports and geometric design. the repeating and closely spaced dots are in the style of art created by the French artist Seurat.
9. Geometric design is a versatile project that can be used in different media and themes. The design works well drawn on paper and colored with markers, used as a design that might be seen in Christmas art, Easter subjects or sun catchers taped to the window.

Rachael Demir - Expressive Therapy

Rachael recently received her Master's in Education Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Expressive Therapy from the University of Louisville. Her role as an Expressive Therapist is to provide a safe and therapeutic space for emotional expression. Rachel will engage your group in experientials that offer unique and meaningful experiences that stimulate the mind and the soul. Sessions explore healthy memory retrieval, fine motor skills, relaxation and creativity in order to make meaningful works of art that participants can keep and share with family and friends. Please note this is not an art project program. Although they do create works of art, the focus is on the process. All experientials include art making followed by a discussion where participants share their work and discuss ideas and feelings pertaining to the process. Due to the high interaction level of these programs, group size can be up to 15. 

Rachael offers 9 experientials to choose from

1. Inside Outside Collage Boxes provide an opportunity to increase interpersonal skills by promoting the exploration of feelings on the inside and how those translate to outward self expression. Ex. Do you show your feelings to others or do you hold them inside?
2. Bridging Emotions engages participants in the exploration of two opposing emotions of their choice. Individuals are asked to explore coping skills that can bridge the gap between the two. This experiential utilizes written forms of expression with the option to use line and color to represent each emotion.
3. The Most Beautiful Heart experience involves two steps. First, participants hear a short story about a young man and an old man, and are then asked to create an image of what their own hearts may look like in giving and receiving love.
4. Hidden Potential utilizes watercolor paint and white oil pastel. Participants are asked to doodle with white pastel on white paper and then they are instructed to paint over their drawing to reveal what it looks like. Discussion follows, pertaining to participant's hidden potential whether in their current life or in the past.
5. The Grudge Jar involves the group as a whole. They are asked to collectively decorate a jar using collage. They are then instructed to each write a grudge down on paper and put it in the jar, never to be seen again. Discussion follows that pertains to holding grudges and letting go of the past.
6. Guided Imagery engages participants in listening to a relaxing excerpt from a chosen literary work. This literature asks members to go to a place in their mind and to get in touch with their physical and emotional self. After the reading, participants create the place that they went to in their mind using their material of choice.
7. Painting to Music engages clients in listening to different types of music in order to explore feelings and emotional states. They are asked to create a different piece of art for each song explored while it is playing. It is more about the process rather than the product.
8. Sculpt and Pass explores what it is like to share and work creatively with others. Participants are asked to create a 3D piece of art and then pass it to the person next to them. They are to add onto each other's piece and not destroy what the previous person created.
9. Therapeutic Spaces engages participants in designing their own room using a pre-drawn coloring book like image. Discussion encourages members to evaluate how their current environment makes them feel and options to make it more therapeutic for them.

          *This artist will travel inside the 275 loop only.