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Arts Education, student, Uncategorized

Animals in Motion!

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By Ian McLaughlin

Animals can move by slithering, crawling, walking, jumping, flying, hopping, swimming, and more, so the possibilities for what the children could expect for their adventure were endless. At Tanglewood Nature Center we paired an animal with their most common movement and at the end of the 45-minute show the kids had the chance to try and move like them. It was quite entertaining watching them popcorn like a guinea pig, crawl like a cockroach, twist like a gecko, stick to the wall like a tree frog, and fly like an owl. My favorite animal movement has to be the tree frog because, lacking the ability to climb, we simply imitated our Gray Tree Frog “Gluey” by sticking our hands to the wall and holding them there. The kids expected more movement with that initial gesture so we all got a good laugh when I immediately moved on to the next animal movement.

Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography

It is the Garden of Fire Summer of Motion this year and I spent the past week traveling all over beautiful Steuben County to bring animals to the different youth centers. I visited the Salvation Army of Corning, Corning Youth Center, Addison Youth Center, and I met up with Paul Shepard for the Canisteo/Hornell program in a beautiful indoor facility in Canisteo this year. I drove back through a torrential rainstorm and lived to tell the tale.

Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography

What a great week!

Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography
Images Courtesy of Dan Gallgher Photography

 

Youth Center Update

Youth Center Update: Hornell Area Concern for Youth

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How do you put a value on something as great as the Garden of Fire!?

Our kids absolutely love it!  I must be honest,  I (Paul Shephard, Director of Hornell Area Concern for Youth) have never attempted a blog before but I feel compelled to make it more of a thank you to all involved.

For our agency to be associated with such a wonderful museum as The Rockwell is just so exciting for our staff and our kids! Amy Ruza and  Gigi Alvaré are such a pleasure to work with and have such a great way of connecting with our kids. The initial intro in which Gigi read her story and Amy added the sound effects is always great, and the way they involved the kids as animal characters was awesome.  Then, of course Ian Mclaughlin from Tanglewood bringing in his many animals and educating our kids on this years’ theme  of water was frosting on the cake.

Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography

Our kids loved the trip to The Rockwell for the clay animal sculpture project as well. They all commented on loving the messiness of it and how relatively easy it was to sculpt their animals with Amy’s direction.  I tried to make my sculpture in the shape of a buffalo as I am a big Bills fan but the final product resembled some sort of psychotic rabbit… at least I tried!

Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography

I would also like to put a “shout out” to Tara Chapman who came to our Canisteo location for the Rain Stick project. She was a great sport to put up with my music and disco lighting for the event… the kids loved her and enjoyed making their own personal rain stick !!   They all made great rain sticks that made beautiful rain noises when used… whereas mine ended up sounding more like a cat in a tornado.

Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography

Our trip out to Tanglewood was also very enjoyable. Ian took us on hikes and showed us the many animals there.  The kids loved the Bee presentation, though the giant turtle was their favorite. A big thanks to Sue Spencer for the engaging drum circle that day as well. Our kids stood up and danced like crazy, and Sue never skipped a beat. Well done !

Emily Hofelich-Bowler, Executive Director of the Addison Youth Center

Finally, last week, we took the bus to CareFirst for a natural elements building session with Tony Moretti and Gwen Quigley. They were true professionals, and inspired our kids into making a 7-foot tall water sculpture made from tree bark, branches and other forms of nature in which the water would travel. It reminded me of the old board game Mouse Trap… does that show my age?? The kids were able to saw, hammer, glue and paint their way to the finished product. Many of them said how proud they were to have structured something so massive.

Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.
Images courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography, 2016.

As usual the summer has gone by soooooo swiftly. We are looking forward to the final celebration this Friday!

WindTunnel4Paul Shephard (That’s me on the right!)
Hornell Area Concern for Youth