Garden of Fire 2017

We have celebrated the Garden of Fire Festival previously, but this year was certainly memorable.  Although this summer was mostly a rainy washout, the weather was on our side COMPLETELY for this festival! Rain fell before the event began and there was a MAJOR downpour just after I packed up my supplies, but not a drop while we played outdoors.

Let the Festival Begin

Members of the Corning Native American Council led the opening ceremony with chants of unity, health, and happiness.  There were nearly 400 people from 6 area youth agencies on premises to enjoy this experience.  The purpose of this festival is to celebrate six weeks of art education with an "earth" theme.

Earthy Centerpiece

The crowd congregated around the Three Sisters sculpture made of glass and metal.  Three artists collaborated to create this permanent fixture at Care First in Coopers Plains.  Mud was used this year to add an earth element by means of a sculpture of the Sky Woman, an Iroquois Creation Story.  Students worked under the direction of artists to create the work, but had their own voice to develop the depiction.

Paint Earth's Elements

This activity packed celebration offered treats in every corner of the property.  Several organizations participated to create a variety of options.  There were canvases for collaborative representations of the earth's elements.  The Food Bank of the Southern Tier offered a mobile farmers market and every child got to fill a bag with fresh vegetables.  

The Southeast Steuben County Library provided two separate activities.

harp & heART

Maryalice brought her harp to offer some "Music and Creativity."  She played songs of varying tempo and beat.  Students were asked to use different types of drawing media to let the music dictate their imagery.  

"Nancy" on the Road

My Giant Knitting Nancy loom made another appearance this year.  I brought this loom to the first Garden of Fire festival in 2013, but many of the kids who wove on it then are now in college.  Ironically, the kids who used the loom this year turned it into a game.  Kids entered the end of the weaving, shimmied toward the center of the loom, then hit it in reverse to exit the weaving.  I have taken this loom to several events and this has never happened. 

A knitting nancy or ned was used historically to create woven tubing.  Items such as fishing nets, stockings, and socks were made with these looms, but I wanted to demonstrate to students that they can produce similar creations using their own fingers.  

Patience is Important

Providing a photo tutorial was intended to help guide the students to learn on their own, but I discovered that the festival atmosphere had each kid on activity overload.  

Calming Activity

Finger weaving or knitting creates tubing with versatile uses.  Headbands, belts, bracelets and necklaces were the options to make, depending upon time and patience.

Nimble Fingers

Some students grasped this technique and made long rope!

Quick and Simple

With limited time to learn and create, a few kids created bracelets, which only took 5 minutes to make.

Try and Try Again

Some adult students had the hardest time grasping the technique to this weaving process.  

Quick Learners

Some students quickly learned the technique, then shared their knowledge, allowing me a lunch break.

Festival's End

To end the festival, everyone gathered for a closing ceremony.  The Corning Native American Council along with some magnificent drummers led chants and songs, students recited poetry and team administrators thanked everyone for a wonderful event.

It was a joy to be part of such a magnificent youth program in my community.

I wonder what the theme will be in 2018.

For more information on Garden of Fire, visit:

https://gardenoffire.com/blog/

Check back soon for coverage of the week-long Theatre Camp with Centre Stage Community Theatre.

Thanks for visiting!

~erica

Garden of Fire

The Rockwell Museum invited the Southeast Steuben County Library to host an activity at the annual Garden of Fire Festival at Care First in Painted Post, N.Y.  This is the third year of the Garden of Fire and the event just keeps growing, because it is a well cultivated community project.

Director of Education of the Rockwell Museum Gigi Alvare speaks at the opening of the annual Garden of Fire Festival for area summer programs at Carefirst in Coopers Plains. Eric Wensel/The Leader

Several area organizations participate in the festival.  There are science and art projects, as well as health and nutrition lessons.  With "Water" as the festival theme, Squirt Gun Painting seemed like a fun activity to bring to the event.

Squirt Gun Painting samples

The samples I made attempted the method of "resist," which uses objects and elements to block paint from the page or "resist" the color.  Wax and glue usually make great resists for painting effects.  I used glue sticks and was not pleased by the results.  As you will see in the following photo, the glue resist was not very effective, but the paper letters and foam squares I used to resist the paint were really great elements to remain in the composition.

"2016" is barely visible after painting

 I expected 250 kids in 6 hours, so the project had to be made within 5 minutes for all kids involved to create a masterpiece.  Since the glue stick resist was a minor failure, we used paper letters and foam squares to decorate the pages before hitting them with squirt gun paint.

My sample, doused in paint

I used water color paper, tempera paint and Nerf Super Soaker Zipfire squirt guns to "paint" each color in a Jackson Pollock drip and splatter style.  Super Soakers are quality squirt guns that held up to the masses and did not clog!  It's easy to get carried away and add too much paint, leaving a muddy puddle on the page.  Therefore, the kids were instructed to squirt 2-3 shots of each color, 4 colors total, before picking up the page and making the paint run abstract lines across the page.

Paint, then turn the page to let the colors run together

This project was fun, fast and mildly messy.  Luckily, we were outdoors and the heat was so oppressive, any contact with water was a GOOD THING!  This kids loved working paint in this method.  Many parents commented on the ease and feasibility of this craft for birthday parties and picnics.  Wet paintings hung on clothes lines to dry, which added a wall of color "flags" flapping in the breeze.  A beautiful day in the Garden of Fire!

Samples hanging in the sun

Eric Wensel, a photographer from our local news paper, The Leader, took great shots of the event.  This is the only image I have seen from the busy, hot, water-filled day!  

Kids make squirt gun paint art. Eric Wensel/The Leader

Gratitude goes to The Rockwell Museum and Chelsea Ambrose from Care First for organizing this rewarding festival.  The SSC Library is pleased to be part of the effort.

Check back in a few weeks to see how our Theatre Workshop Camp goes.  It was so much fun last year, it's back!

There is still plenty of time to register!