current programs - postponed due to covid

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Spring 2020 - a heroes journey WEEKEND WEARABLE ART workshop (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID)

description

Journey Design Presents… “A Heroes Journey” Weekend Wearable Art Workshop for aspiring designers.

The Heroes Journey Weekend Wearable Art Workshop is a 2-day workshop where young designers work with professional artists to create innovative garments and sculptures inspired by life stories. It blends creative fashion design, visual art, and storytelling with creative construction techniques and alternative materials. No sewing skills necessary. Come create regalia that reflects your Hero Journey! Meet other artists as companions on your creative journey!  Be brave, have courage, apply now! (This workshop is open to both military and civilian children and teens.)

Click here to apply to the Spring 2020 A Heroes Journey design workshop!

Dates:

2-day workshop: (1) Saturday, March 28, 2020, 10 am - 2 pm, and (2) Sunday, March 29, 2020, 1 pm - 5 pm (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID)

location:

Old Dorsett Studios
2600 Hull Street
Richmond, VA 23224

COST:

$125 (includes all classes, materials, and snacks). Scholarships are available.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• For grades 6-12 and young adult assistants.

Click here to apply to the Spring 2020 A Heroes Journey design workshop!

Summer 2020 - military brat art workshops (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID)

DESCRIPTION

The Military BRAT Art Workshop is a unique art workshop designed specifically for children and teens who have grown up in military families. Our 2020 program is two full days and features creative art instruction in drawing/painting and documentary filmmaking. Celebrate and explore your military “brat” life and culture through art and film! Connect with others who have grown up like you have! There is no other art programming like this in the world! (This workshop is for military kids only - current or former.)

INSTRUCTORS:

• Drawing & painting, taught by award-winning artist Lora Beldon, featured on PBS.

• Documentary filmmaking, taught by Donna Musil, Writer-Director of the award-winning film BRATS: Our Journey Home, featured on CNN.

Dates:

• High School (ages 14-17): July 18-19, 2020 (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID)

• Middle School (ages 11-13): July 20-21, 2020 (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID)

• Elementary School (ages 8-10): July 22-23, 2020 (POSTPONED DUE TO COVID)

location:

Old Dorsett Studios
2600 Hull Street
Richmond, VA 23224

COST:

$135 (includes all classes, materials, and snacks). Full and partial scholarships available!

Deposit due in full by April 1, 2020. Cancellation refunds allowed by May 1, 2020. Scholarship applicants will also need to submit deposit to hold space, but it will be refunded in full after the workshop.

OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• For serious military kid artists only.

• At least one parent/guardian must have served on Active Duty or Mobilized Guard or Reserves during the applicant's childhood.

• Acceptance is not first-come, first-serve. Applicants must submit samples of their work and will be selected to attend. We consider all of the information you provide, including any comments and recommendations.

cancellation:

Workshops will only be held if 5 or more students register. If the workshop is cancelled for lack of registrants, security deposits will be refunded in full.

The Military BRAT Art Workshop is the first and only multidisciplinary art workshop in the world designed specifically for military children, teens, and adults. It was developed by Marine Corps Brat Lora Beldon, of Military Kid Art Project, and Army Brat Donna Musil, of Brats Without Borders. All courses are taught by professional artists who were also raised in military families, and allows military brats to explore their creativity, express their feelings, and connect with their Military Brat peers and culture. It's not just about the art - it's about understanding who you are and where you're from.

Military BRAT Art Workshops are the cornerstone of the new BRAT Art Institute, the first art organization for Military Brats & TCKs. Our teachers don't just study what it's like to be a military kid - they lived it! The workshops also includes games, movies, exercises examining the Military BRAT Culture, and special BRAT guests. At the end of the camp, there is a professional Military BRAT Art & Performance Exhibition, showcasing the artists’ work, along with food, prizes, and more.

If you're a military brat, there is truly no other workshop like this in the world. If your school or organization would like to host a Military BRAT Art Workshop, please let us know. We can tailor the workshop to the time frame and age range you need.

Growing up military (and/or TCK) can be wonderful. It can also be tough. In addition to the normal stresses of growing up, military brats and TCKs have to deal with multiple deployments, constant moves, and pressures to "keep it together" for their families, the institution, and the country in general. Some have to deal with their parent's PTSD. Others feel trapped and alone. Almost none of them feel like “civilians” understand what they're going through.

According to Abraham Maslow, belonging is the third most important human need behind food and safety - even more important than self-esteem.  But knowing where you belong can be hard when you're moving all the time. Even tougher when you're constantly putting the needs of your family and your country ahead of your own. Military/TCK parents think they understand, and to some extent, they do. But most military/TCK parents did not grow up military, and dealing with these stresses is much different when your brain is still forming and you're still learning how to bond, communicate, and express yourself.  

Being a BRAT doesn't start when a soldier is deployed and it doesn't end when the military takes your ID card away. In fact, many challenges for military kids and TCKs have nothing to do with deployment. Others don't begin until brats leave the military/TCK environment and try to fit into the civilian world. Military BRAT Art Workshops gives military children, teens, and adults that (very rare) opportunity to express their feelings through art and creativity. To understand that they're not alone and they do belong - not to a geographical place, maybe, but to a wonderful group of people who will be there for them long after the parades are over and the guns are put away: their fellow brats.

There are a lot of programs out there that send military kids on hiking adventures and to amusement parks. Only the Military BRAT Art Workshop invites them "home" with their fellow brats and TCKs to celebrate their culture, express themselves, and just have a good time with people who "get it."

As author Robin Pascoe, the Expat Expert, likes to say, "Home is where you don't have to explain yourself."  For creative military kids and TCKs, home is a Military BRAT Art Workshop.

Here is some artwork from previous Military Kid Art Project™ camps. There are also poems, interviews, sculptures, musical performances, and mixed media drawings. Click here to see more! 

If you are an adult military brat or TCK artist (in any genre) and would like to apply for a position with future Military BRAT Art Workshops as a lead art teacher, assistant, or volunteer, please send your resume to Lora Beldon at lkbeldon@hotmail.com.

For more information, please contact us through our Contact Form, or at the following:

If you would like to help support our workshops; ensure Military Brat & TCK art and culture is not lost, ignored, or forgotten; and honor the service and sacrifice of military youth by giving them a voice in their own narrative, please make a donation today! 

Just a little shout-out to all of our Military BRAT Art Workshop supporters! Some have given money, some have given time and in-kind donations, and some have helped get the word out. We are grateful for all of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!