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 The Palo Alto Art Center will be closed to the public on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11. The Art Center will reopen for regular business hours on Thursday, November 12. Art Center Closed on Veterans DayMore... |
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 Celebrate fall with the Art Center’s very first take-home art kit! This kit is full of all the materials and instructions you need to make your very own little scarecrow. Pick up yours for $10 at the Art Center. #ArtCenterAtHome #upliftlocal We have a limited supply of the kits, so they are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Stop by the Art Center today before they're all gone! Take Home an Art Center Art Kit!More... |
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 The Art Center has now reopnend its Glass Gallery to the community safely, at 25% capacity. Our first open exhibition will be the Peninsula Photo Contest, our annual collaboration with the Palo Alto Weekly that celebrates local photographers. Art Center Glass Gallery Now OpenMore... |
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 California’s largest Great Glass Pumpkin Patch will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, but in a different way than any other year. The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch Goes Online will feature not a physical event, but an online sale Sept. 24-Oct. 4, to benefit the artists, as well as event sponsors the Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI) and the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation. 2020 Great Glass Pumpkin Patch® Hosts Special Online Sale Sept. 24-Oct. 4More... |
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 Palo Alto artist Marilyn Smith wants people to not only look at her art, but to touch it, to play with it, and possibly even break it. “It’s essential that people be able to touch my artwork,” says Marilyn who has created pieces out of wood, stone and paper. “I don’t care if it gets damaged when someone is handling my art, as long as it’s being looked at. How delightful if it gets worn out.” Juxtaposition is at the Heart of Marilyn Smith's ArtworkMore... |
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 The Art Center’s current exhibition, Encounters: Honoring the Animal in Ourselves, emphasizes real and imagined revelatory encounters the artists have had with animals. But for longtime Palo Alto Animal Control Officer William Warrior, up-close and personal interactions with wildlife are daily occurrences. William Warrior Honors all the Animals He EncountersMore... |
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 A typical morning in the lobby of the Palo Alto Art Center can flood your senses. The warm of the sun radiating through the large windowpanes. The smell of clay being shaped between wet fingers on spinning wheels in our ceramics studio. The taste of coffee in the air as the morning staff starts the day’s activities. And, if you are lucky, you would be greeted by the genuine smile and welcoming voice of Suzanne Ramirez. Program Assistant 2. Our mom. Art Center Mainstay Suzanne Ramirez Retires After 20 YearsMore... |
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 Book artist Kathleen Walkup’s career trajectory involves a long journey of self-discovery as well as being in the right place at the right time. She is now a respected professor of book arts at Mills College in Oakland. For Artist Kathleen Walkup, the Book IS the ArtMore... |
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 Who would have thought that a career as a hardware engineer and chip designer in high tech would prepare Shu-shia Chow to become a jewelry artist during retirement? “I treat every jewelry project as an engineering project,” she says. “I first come up with the idea for a piece of jewelry, make a drawing of it, and then create a three-dimensional model in paper to make sure I have the most efficient design.” Artist Shu-shia Chow Carefully Engineers her JewelryMore... |
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 When artist Monica Waldman prepares to create her ceramics on the potter’s wheel, she likes to likes to have all of her shaping and scraping tools laid out before her, as a surgeon would in an operating room. “That’s a good comparison,” she says. “Like a doctor’s tools, they tend to get all messy and dirty when I’m creating a ceramic piece. In fact, we have a couple of people here working with clay in the Adult Studios who happen to be physicians.” Artist Monica Waldman Enjoys Creating Art People can UseMore... |
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 Artist Jeremiah Jenkins actually wants people to find his artwork humorous. “When I was an undergrad, I almost quit art to go and study comedy with Second City in Chicago,” says Jenkins, who is one of the artists participating in the Art Center’s Care and Feeding: The Art of Parenthood exhibition. “Comedians have always been a huge influence for me. But then I learned about conceptual art, and there’s something deeper to it than just jokes. When someone’s perception gets messed with in a way, it’s entertaining. And if someone laughs at my works, that’s a success for me.” A Funny Thing Happened to Jeremiah Jenkins on the way to Becoming an ArtistMore... |
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 During the summer, the Art Center benefits from the assistance of several interns who hone their skills in Children’s Fine Art (CFA) programs, Exhibitions, Marketing, and Development. But these interns from California colleges say they also receive many benefits and rewards from working in a real-world environment at the Art Center. Interns Invest their Time, Effort and Receive Rewards, KnowledgeMore... |
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 The best way to describe Ben Venom’s artwork may be to compare it to an iron hand in a quilted glove. “My work is able to operate in three different worlds: fine art, crafting, and the counterculture scene,” says San Francisco-based quilt artist Venom, who is exhibiting one of his pieces during the Paper Cuts: Large-Scale Collage exhibition at the Art Center. Meet Artist Ben Venom—Punk Rock QuilterMore... |
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 The Palo Alto Art Center recently conducted an interview with Li Ezzell, the Art Coordinator for the Palo Alto Unified School District who is supervising this year’s Youth Art exhibition at the Art Center. Get the rest of the story by clicking the link! Li Ezzell Believes in the Transformative Power of ArtMore... |
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 Now in its seventh year, the Youth Speaks Out exhibition at the Palo Alto Art Center, from March 23-April 19, will bring together hundreds of students from both Gunn and Palo Alto high schools who will express their hopes, fears, and visions of their own future through their artwork. 'Youth Speaks Out' through Creativity at the Art CenterMore... |
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 The art of collage typically involves the assemblage of different forms of found images to create a whole new work of art. At the Art Center, disparate members of the Drop-In Collage Group meet on a weekly basis to create not only artwork, but a sense of community as well. Drop-In Collage Group Assembles a Sense of CommunityMore... |
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 At the Palo Alto Art Center, “art is alive,” says Children’s Fine Art instructor and artist Paulina Shapona. For the last 17 years, Paulina has been teaching drawing, painting, pastels, cartooning, fashion design and puppet performance workshops with her unique perspective on arts education. Read more by clicking the link. Art Instructor Paulina Shapona Draws Connection between Art and LifeMore... |
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 The Palo Alto Public Art Program presents a new temporary art installation at King Plaza: The Artwork Forge, a retro-style interactive robotic sculpture creating on-demand unique artworks for visitors in just a couple of minutes. Robotic Art Making Sculpture Comes to King PlazaMore... |
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 The Art Center is excited to debut The Art Cart—an activity cart filled with art supplies and activities for use in and outside our galleries! Created after more than a year of research and planning, the Cart is intended to provide families with engaging creative activities they can do together. The Art Cart Rolls Into the Art CenterMore... |
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 Color is such an integral part of our lives. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the mood we are in is all linked by our personal preferences for color. Culture also influences. Ultimately, the thing that is so compelling about color is that it is completely and unarguably subjective and personal.—Lisa Solomon Thanks to a generous grant from the California Arts Council’s Artists Activating Communities Program, the Palo Alto Art Center partnered with Oakland-based artist Lisa Solomon to create a series of workshops for teens focused on color and meditation. In the workshops, Solomon employed a process similar to a warm-up activity she utilizes for her own work—small, water color paintings in which she explores color through repetition of a simple shape. The exercise both clears her mind and get “into the zone” for further creative explorations. Artist Lisa Solomon's Color Meditations with TeensMore... |
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The Palo Alto Art Center has launched its 45th anniversary celebration with a year-long series of community events, ambitious exhibitions, ceramic artist residencies, an Art Center historic timeline, informative lectures, and much more.
The celebration kicked off in earnest on May 1 with a community tea, the public dedication and unveiling of an “Art Center Drive” commemorative sign with Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burt, and a Spring Family Day. Art Center Celebrates 45th Anniversary with Year-long Series of EventsMore... |
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The Palo Alto Art Center has announced the selection of three ceramic artists for its 45 Days of Clay residency program. The artists who have been chosen to participate in the residency program from June 23-August 20 are Malia Landis, Wesley Wright, and Matthew Goldberg. 45 Days of Clay Artist ResidenciesMore... |
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The Feb. 29 deadline for all ceramic artists interested in participating in a new and exciting residency at the Art Center is fast approaching! The Art Center’s 45 Days of Clay Artists-in-Residence coincides with the exhibition Big Clay, and is being offered this summer in conjunction with Art Center’s 45th anniversary celebration. Ceramic Artists Sought for New Clay Residency ProgramMore... |
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What does the creative process actually look like? Artist David Tomb invites members of the community to find out as he creates colorful dioramas complete with birds, grasses, and marsh from a diverse range of materials during the second phase of his Creative Ecology residency in February and March. Join Creative Ecology Artist David Tomb in the GalleryMore... |
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The Art Center will be closed for the holidays from Dec. 24-Jan. 4, 2016, and will reopen for regular business hours on Jan. 5. This past year was a great one for the Art Center, including the launch of our latest artist in residence program, Creative Ecology, the California State School Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in Museum Education for Cultural Kaleidoscope, and the creation of Palo Alto’s first Happiness Map by artist Kate Pocrass. 2016 looks to be another wonderful year with new classes, exciting art exhibitions, fun-filled events, and the celebration of the Art Center’s 45th anniversary! Have an art-filled holiday, and we look forward to seeing you again in the New Year!
Art Center Winter Closure begins December 24More... |
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 Artist Kate Pocrass wants to know: Where do you find happiness in Palo Alto? The answer to that question comes in the form of a project launched by Pocrass, who has asked hundreds of Palo Alto residents to identify and describe their happy places throughout the city. | Mapping Happiness in Palo AltoMore... |
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 Short’s piece for the exhibition, Oculus, a 12-channel, 275-speaker installation, enticed viewers to step inside and listen to low-frequency sounds. She says that she learned a lot about her own art from the reactions of viewers and was honored to have her work shown alongside the other Hear This! artists: Chris Duncan, Mark Malmberg, Christian Marclay, and Julianne Swartz, | | Exhibiting at Art Center a Sound Experience for Kate Lee ShortMore... |
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While National Volunteer Week takes place only once each year in April, volunteerism thrives year ‘round at the Palo Alto Art Center, as hundreds of volunteers routinely donate thousands of hours to ensure the success of the Center’s programs and events. Thank You, Art Center Volunteers!More... |
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 During this period of quarantine, many Art Center participants are currently working creatively from home, following their passion for making art. We spoke with local artist Leda Krakirian to find out how she is adapting to making art from home, what sort of challenges she may have encountered, and what she misses most about the Art Center. Leda Krakirian Offers Advice to Artists Working from HomeMore... |
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Palo Alto artist Judith Content is best known for her textile artworks, which have been exhibited throughout the United States, in Europe, and Asia. But Judith got her start as a ceramic artist. Pottery Creek honors her background in ceramic arts as well as the important role of ceramics in the history and future of the Palo Alto Art Center. Pottery Creek by Judith ContentMore... |
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Although Palo Alto residents Claire Taylor and Charles Schulz first fell in love with each other 34 years ago, they fell in love with the Palo Alto Art Center in 1988 when they had their marriage ceremony and reception in the courtyard. Celebrating 25 Years of Love at the Art CenterMore... |
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All of us at the Art Center wish you, your family and your friends a happy holiday season and an art-filled New Year! The Art Center will be closed from Wednesday, December 24 through Thursday, January 1 and will reopen on Friday, January 2. We will kick off the New Year with fun and imaginative classes for children and adults and our winter exhibition, Hear This!, opening on January 17. See you at the Art Center in 2015! Art Center closes for the holidays on December 24More... |
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The Palo Alto Art Center is honored to announce the 2014-2015 Artist-in-Residence Program participants. Artists were selected through a competitive process by a panel consisting of Art Center staff members from the exhibitions, education, and studio program areas. Palo Alto Art Center Announces Artist-in-Residence Program!More... |
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The Palo Alto Art Center welcomes the public back to its newly transformed space after eighteen months of renovation. Created by the community more than 40 years ago, the newly transformed Art Center is the place where you can actively participate in the arts! Highlights of our renovated building include a new Children’s Wing with double the number of classrooms, transformed exhibition galleries, new lobby spaces and public areas and beautifully landscaped outdoor spaces for all to enjoy! Click here for a detailed list of the days activities! A Transformed Palo Alto Art Center Opens On October 6More... |
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In the spring of 2013, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Palo Alto City Library embarked upon an exciting project with local teens—the creation of a mobile makerspace. Funded by a California State Library grant, this project will result in a mobile makerspace—created by and for local teens—that will premiere at the Art Center in August 2013 and then travel to libraries and community centers throughout Palo Alto. A Mobile Place for Making, All for TeensMore... |
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