SUMMER ART LABS

Our Summer Art Labs blend fine art education with exploration of their worlds: natural, inner and communal . Each week, students explore a meaningful life theme through the lens of influential artists, while working with a wide range of media including painting, drawing, collage, mixed media and sculpture.  

At Lunisa we give students the tools to uncover their true abilities as makers and experimenters . They are sent home with professional looking projects not because we are a training ground for future artists, but because we believe it’s by doing that we can unlock that magical blend of confidence, capacity and release: creativity. This is something that your child can bring with them into any space in which they want to thrive.

Week 1: June 15-19

PEACE + PATIENCE

Artists: Picasso

Discussion Questions:

  • When do you feel peace?

  • What does peace look like?

  • What is patience? Why is it an important skill?

  • Why is being patient sometimes hard to do?

  • What are some strategies we can use to show peace and patience?

Art Experiences:

  • Emotional abstract faces (Picasso-inspired)

  • “Before & After” peace paintings

  • Group peace mural

Week 2: June 22-26

IDENTITY + INTERSECTIONALITY

Artists: Frida Kahlo 

Big Questions:

  • Who am I beyond what people see?

  • What makes me unique?

  • How can I support others in being who they are?

Art Experiences:

  • Symbolic self-portraits

  • Identity shields (mixed media)

  • Beaded 

Week 3: June 29-July 3

CURIOSITY + CONFIDENCE

Artists: Matisse, Calder

Big Questions:

  • Is play important for grown-ups too?

  • What colors feel like happiness?

  • How does movement change mood?

Art Experiences:

  • Large-scale cut-outs/Sculpture

  • Bilateral Drawings

  • Joy color studies

Week 4: July 6-10

COMMUNITY + CONNECTION

Artist: Cannupa Hanska Lugar

Big Questions:

  • Where do you feel the most connected to others?

  • What communities do I belong to? How do I show up in them?

  • How can art tell our story?

Art Experiences:

  • Collaborative wood mural

  • Story quilt (paper or fabric)

  • Nature art for all to see.  

Week 5: July 13-17

EMOTIONS + EXPRESSION

Artists: Kandinsky, Basquiat

Big Questions:

  • Can you see feelings?

  • Is it okay to feel more than one thing at once?

  • How can art say what words can’t?

Art Experiences:

  • Emotion abstraction paintings

  • Layered glass landscapes

  • Sound-to-color painting

Week 6: July 20-24

ABILITY & STRENGTH

Artists: Van Gogh, Alma Thomas

Big Questions:

  • What helps you on hard days?

  • Can mistakes become beautiful?

  • How do we grow from challenges?

  • How can we support others?

Art Experiences:

  • Textured emotional landscapes

  • “Growth spiral” mixed media piece

  • Visual journals

Week 7: July 27-21

NATURE + MINDFULNESS

Artists: Georgia O’Keeffe

Big Questions:

  • What do we miss when we rush?

  • How does nature heal us?

  • What happens when we really observe?

Art Experiences:

  • Zoomed-in botanical paintings

  • Nature Mobiles

  • Outdoor observational sketching

Week 8: August 3-7

IMAGINATION + DREAMS

Artists: Dalí

Big Questions:

  • Where do ideas come from?

  • What would a dream world look like?

  • Can impossible things exist in art?

Art Experiences:

  • Surreal dreamscapes

  • Found-object sculptures

  • Altered reality collages

Week 9: August 10-14

WORDS + COURAGE

Artists: Faith Ringgold, Keith Haring

Big Questions:

  • When have you spoken up?

  • What do you wish adults understood?

  • What would you change in the world?

  • How do I contribute?

Art Experiences:

  • Words to art

  • Sculptured mixed media

  • Lanterns, paint and beading

Week 10: August 17-21

PEACE + CONFLICT

Artists: Yayoi Kusama

Big Questions:

  • What helps your body feel safe?

  • Can color heal?

  • What is calm, really?

  • What are tangible things we can do to find healing and calm?

Art Experiences:

  • Color field paintings

  • Meditation art

  • Repetitive pattern work

Week 11: August 24-28

COMPASSION + CONNECTION

Artists: Norman Rockwell, JR (street portraits)

Big Questions:

  • How do we understand others?

  • What does it mean to listen?

  • How do faces tell stories?

Art Experiences:

  • Partner portraits

  • Emotion in media photo form

  • “Walk in their shoes” team collage

Week 12: Aug 31 - Sep 4

CULTURE + COMMUNICATION

Artists: Romero Britto, Afrofuturism artists

Big Questions:

  • What kind of world do you want?

  • What role does art play in your culture?

  • What does good communication look like?

  • How do we show up for others?

Art Experiences:

  • Future city paintings

  • Vision boards

  • Boxed treasures building

Learn.‍ ‍Grow. Let Go.

Come play with us!