‘Art Rocks’: Museum fires up art studio fun

Published 12:54 pm Thursday, December 4, 2008

Make way for the paper dragons.

To offer families some time for creative fun, Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will offer Art Rocks sessions on Saturday and other days in December, paper dragons being one of the projects.

“‘Art Rocks’ is a way of letting visitors know about some of the awesome projects we have planned in the art studio, but also to let them know that we do all kinds of projects; one day, clay; the next, painting; the next, making art with recycled materials. You never know what kind of project is waiting for you in the art studio,” said creative arts manager Raniere, who goes by one name.

At Saturday’s session, themed “Experiencing China,” guests will make paper dragons and attach them to chopsticks so their crafts can move just as China’s real dragon dancers do.

“For the past several months, we have been highlighting a culture a month in the art studio,” Raniere said. “We do an art project from that culture, play music, have books, clothing … home furnishings, for visitors to get as close to up-close about a culture as we can.”

To that end, on Saturday a storyteller will bring in a dragon costume, which she uses to tell the story of Nian, the mean dragon whom the people chase away with loud noises and the color red. Museum visitors then will get to jump on bubble wrap to make popping noises that would scare Nian.

Art Rocks sessions take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but the museum also often has events following those sessions that tie into the day’s theme. As another form of Chinese art on Saturday, the Melody Xie Dancers will perform nearly a dozen routines from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m., including a ribbon dance and a hula hoop dance.

Upcoming Art Rocks sessions will include “Pet-Arctica” on Dec. 12, celebrating Roald Amundsen, who in 1911 became the first person to reach the South Pole; “Flowers of Winterfest” on Dec. 18, celebrating the winter solstice with a cotton fabric flower project; and a collage calendar project on Dec. 20.