After today we will be closed for a brief period while we spend some time in Haiti. Regularly scheduled after-school art classes will resume on Wednesday May 30th, 2012 and weekend drop-in art workshops resume on Saturday, June 2nd. If you are uncertain of dates, please check our calendar.
Also of note: We are doing our End of Season Art Show on Saturday June 16th, 2012. All past students from the 2011/2012 school year are invited to show off their great work at this special exhibition of art. We ask that each child bring 1-3 of their favourite pieces to Lisa the week of June 10th, so that they can be hung at Smock Café the night before the big show. Thank you and see you real soon!
Students, parents, extended family and friends, please mark your calendars – for this momentous occasion! Let’s all take this wonderful opportunity to show off the beautiful creations we’ve made over the year. Special thanks to our friend Sara Wood, owner of Smock Café & Wonder Workshop who is hosting our delightful event!
One of the best things about having this business is getting to hang with a bunch of really cool and creative folks who love having fun with kids just as much as we do. This month is chock ‘o block full of great events that we are fortunate to be a part of. For the first 3 weekends in February we’re hangin’ with JUNO NOMINATED Monkey Bunch. I’ll be manning a craft table where the kids will be fooling around with stamps and stamp pads and Ryan will be doing what he does best – entertaining the kidlets before the Monkey Bunch’s BIG performance!
Then, on the last Sunday of the month, we’ll be at Totsapalooza for Small Print’s fourth annual fabulous event – themed this year “Mouse City Calling”. If there’s one thing I’ll never stop loving – it’s a good party – and this month is full of ‘em!
I’ve been wanting to post this wee blog for a month now, but obviously time got away from me – with the busy-ness of the season! On Sunday Nov. 18th Julian and myself helped out with Small Print Toronto’sMouse City Summit at the Gladstone. What a great time it was! The morning’s event was based on ‘housing’ for mice – gathering together urban planners 2-to-8 years old from all across Toronto to conceive, create and construct a “Mouse City” out of recycled household materials. Several different mouse-centric books were read, with the headlining author Rosyln Schwartz, creator of the Mole Sisters, reading her newly launched The Vole Brothers. There was a write up in one of the city’s rags about it, but sadly Art & Soul wasn’t mentioned. That’s okay… We got props from Chris Reed the fab guy behind Small Print Toronto, who hosted and put on the event, so for me that’s enough. “Given how integral you were to the success of yesterday’s city-building event, I was also more than a bit disappointed to see that Jacob did not mention you or link to the Centre For Art & Soul site in his write-up in the Grid.” For anyone who is interested in the article – you can click here. The kids had such a great time, that Julian decided to delay our trek to the Santa Claus Parade and stay late at the Gladstone for more construction fun… Here are a couple of pics taken on the day, and one pic is of Julian enjoying a hot chocolate after the later viewing of the Santa Claus Parade. Thanks again to Small Print Toronto for inviting us. For us, it was a highlight of the season!
We are totally psyched to be working with our good friends from Small Print Toronto again! Save the date:
When: Sunday, November 20; 10:30am (Doors 9:30) Where: The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St West Cost: $10 Adults / $5 Kids / Non-Walkers Ride Free
“From Stuart Little to An American Tail, a mainstay of children’s stories is mice cobbling together dwellings for themselves out of items designed for human homes. What would an entire city created specifically for fictional mice look like?
The Mouse City Summit will address this timely issue by gathering together urban planners 2-to-8 years old from all across Toronto to conceive, create and construct a “Mouse City” out of recycled household materials.
To shed light upon the often amazing ways that literary mice re-purpose human possessions to build homes, Natalie Kertes will read Pheobe Gilman’s classic tale Something From Nothing (Scholastic Canada).
Are food and housing the most pressing social issues for picture-book critters? Montreal-based author and illustrator Rosyln Schwartz, creator of the Mole Sisters,will launch her brand new series about a pair of ravenous rodents, The Vole Brothers (Owl Kids).
What structures need to be in place to make Mouse City a sustainable enterprise? Matthew Blackett, Publisher and Creative Director of Spacing Magazine, will give us some tips by reading Jan Brett’s celebrated version of the fable, Town Mouse / Country Mouse (Penguin Group Canada).
After reviewing the key literature, budding city builders will put their dreams into action, with zoning advice from Blackett and Hamutal Dotan, Editor-in-Chief of Torontoist.com, as well as construction advice from Lisa Kelly of The Centre For Art & Soul.
Who knows? Maybe kids can teach the grown-ups at City Hall a thing or two about designing a city fit for creatures big and small. All Mouse City Summit texts will be available at the event from Mabel’s Fables Bookstore.”
It’s been 2 years coming. I’ve been saying I want to do parenting workshops and I’m happy to report that it’s FINALLY happening. We’re hosting facilitator Pamela Smith from the Parenting Education Network, for a night of “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen” (and if you know the book – “Listen So Your Kids Will Talk”). In this workshop, you’ll learn practical and effective methods of communication to foster cooperation between you and your children. We are getting quite a lot of interest, so register soon to hold your spot!
When: Wednesday November 9, 2011
Where: 1497 Queen St. West (our CFAS location)
Time: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Cost: $15 (includes hst)
Classes cancelled on Sunday May 29th due to our exciting and fun-filled Open House. Workshops resume next Saturday June 4th at regularly scheduled times.
*Please note: Weekend Drop-in/Drop-offs now alternate between Saturdays and Sundays.
Drama Games Workshop(4 yrs +) 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Cancelled due to Open House.
Yoga & Art Workshop (4 yrs +) 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Cancelled due to Open House.
See you there! We would greatly appreciate it if you could call or email us if you intend to come to one of our drop-ins. It helps with prep when we have an idea of the number of kids participating. Thanks!
Still basking in the warmth of the season while looking at these great photos. We did our first art exhibit the weekend before Christmas, and I must say that it was quite the success! The kids enjoyed seeing their work displayed, and sharing this event with the special people in their lives definitely gave them a well deserved ego boost. We had Kat Lanteigne read from her book ‘My Fairy Uncle’, and Sho and Mo from their Monkey Bunch sang carols for us. There were raffle prizes, snacks and a very good time was had by all. Can’t wait until the next one!
On October 4th 2010, it’ll be 1 year since we officially launched ‘Centre for Art & Soul’. We’ve been extremely busy!! We’ve played kids yoga, drama, music, art workshops, switched locations, and done several different events including the Green Living Show! Here we’ve put together a montage of a few special moments from the past 11 months. We hope you’ve enjoyed as much as we have. There are always interesting happenings going on at the centre and we look forward to having you join us for more FUN in the months and years ahead! Music credit below, goes to our good friends Sho, Mo and The Monkey Bunch!
We were thrilled to be invited to participate in this year’s 2nd Annual TOTSTOCK at Sorauren Ave. Park. Our booth offered kids yoga and a modelling clay animal craft. There were so many great things going on for the kids throughout the event. We didn’t want it to end!
The Centre for Art & Soul was there for the fabulous show put on by SHO, MO and THE MONKEY BUNCH last Sunday at the Great Hall. Ryan was on stage with his buddy Monkey, while I manned the ‘mural station’. The Bunch’s latest cd ‘Power To The Little People’ rocks and my son and I listen to it all the time. We HIGHLY recommend. Can’t get enough!! Check out a clip below of them singing “Honk Honk”.
A GIANT thank you to everyone who participated. It really was perfect in every way. And we couldn’t have done this without each and everyone of you and your unique input. It was a wonderful collaboration from a lot of creative and supportive people. Most importantly – the kids enjoyed! We look forward to working/creating with all of you again in the future. Woo hoo!! Here’s to a great success.
Our good friend Anouk of Anouk’s Ark, filmed some excerpts of the day.
Here is a clip of Chris Patterson singing a song from his kids cd “Small Potatoes”…
