Cosplay Costumes

July is a big month for teens at the Southeast Steuben County Library.  The Summer Reading Program takes over for six weeks, but we start with the First Friday Art Club.  We ran our first ever Comic Con in 2015 called Library UnMasked.  It was so much fun, we brought it back and planned other programs around it.

The Cape Quest Commences

"Cosplay Costumes" was a great theme to inspire young adults to design wearable art,

that could be worn to our Library UnMasked event.  

We enticed teens to attend the comic con event with the prizes they could win, like weekend passes to T2C2, Twin Tiers Comic Con, and unusual library activities they could attempt after hours, but these bribes were not necessary.  Creativity took over once the supplies were provided and a little guidance was given.

Slew of Supplies

Tetyana Buchholz (a.k.a. Tat, a.k.a. "FASHION SUPERSTAR") graciously donated her time to guide the design process.  Tat brought a ton of materials sent to her by The Art Institute of Chicago, her alma matter.  Our students appreciated the variety of textures, colors and items so much, the room was a chaotic creative cloud in moments.

Red and gold were popluar colors sought to make super hero design elements.

Gold + red + shields= super hero design palette.

One student took her art to a creepy level with dark colors, cobwebs and crows.

Crows and Cobwebs

Another student made an Olympic games inspired cuff, because she said, "cuffs are tough."

Cuffs = TOUGH!

Wale print yardage beckoned this student to create a warrior of the sea costume.

Wale Warrior

Textured scrapbook paper and duct tape made the most simple robot costume.

Gold-Bot

Capes and hoods were also popular.  

Tat showed student simple techniques to cinch fabric and gather it.  These simple suggestions allowed quick creation without the need of sewing machines.

Caped Crusader of the Night

This program was fun and easy to accomplish.  Tat donated supplies, but many of these items are free to source from you local community.  I saved lots of scraps from my home crafting collection and spread the word of need for particular items.  With various donations, this program was free to host and there is still a TON of left-overs to plan an accessories project this Fall.  The students enjoyed the freedom to create without worry of wrecking valuable supplies.  I enjoyed seeing the variety of directions each student took to finish their project. Several of these designers attended Library UnMasked 

and someone even won "Original Character" category!

Check out the latest Teen Tones blog entry to find our who won.... 

Stop back in August....

Recycled Creations by Kimberly Canale

when we refurbish rubbish with Kimberly Canale.

Thanks for visiting!

~erica

Mad Monster Masks....well, Maybe

October is the month for monsters, masks and mayhem!  I LOVE HALLOWEEN!  I also love making my costumes, so I planned First Friday Art Club around making masks this October. I wanted to share my skills and love of costume design, but I was not thoroughly prepared to teach the techniques, just reintroduce the method.   My mask intention involved paper mache', the white glue and paper strip technique.  Technical difficulties abound held back our mask making mode.

It turns out, the Corning Chamber of Commerce asked to introduce their YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ACADEMY to my group.  I always welcome new ideas to share with my teens, and this program has tremendous value.  I welcome you to further investigate this amazing opportunity.  There is a fee, but certainly a worthwhile program for youth in Corning, NY. 

The mixed media mask (image above) was the intended goal during program planning. Paper mache' is time consuming, extra, EXTRA messy and very difficult to transport while wet.  These hindrances were evident within the first 10 minutes of the program.  What is one to do when faced with too many problems at once?  IMPROVISE!

With less than adequate time to produce a paper mache' masks, I told all participants to make what they wanted with the supplies available.  Cardboard masks, prepped and painted can be a wonderful form of self expression.  We had a flurry of madness and a ton of mayhem by the end of the program.  I had been pulled in more than 20 different directions in 10 minutes, so pictures of projects are lacking.  I have one memory that will always remain.

Clean up is necessary for my programs.  It is expected that attendance lasts the duration of the planned program.  For the kids who follow those expectations, they enjoyed the ever fun shake-the-parachute (a.k.a. camping tarp) game (a.k.a. dry that tarp quickly so it does not mold!)  The giggles and camaraderie involved in this simple step remind my of the innocence of youth and that a little mayhem is good for the soul.

Colorful Crayon Creations are on the calendar for November.

Bring a t-shirt and your imagination, we will provide the rest!

Thanks for stopping over at the First Friday Art Club.

.e.