Photo by Howard Pitkow

What could possibly make this event more fun?!  Art!  (come on, you had to see that answer coming!).  And that’s where we come in.  The Arts Alive Mobile and Street Squad Artists will be situated at Sweet Mabel Folk Art & Fine Craft Gallery from 2-3 pm with free art projects.

So surely there is some fee to attend such a wonderfully festive event?  Think again!  Thanks to the generous donation of sponsorship dollars and manpower from the members of the Narberth Business Association, entrance into the festival and most of the activities are free.  Carriage rides cost $5, and there are a few souvenirs for sale as well.  Come have fun, and make sure you say hi to us!

A perfect example is one that we’ll be headed to this weekend with the Arts Alive Mobile, Chestwold’s Holiday Gift & Craft Sale at the Elementary School (630 Loraine Street in Ardmore).  This free event, featuring 45 local artists, craftsmen and vendors, opens Friday, Dec. 2 from 7-9 pm and then Saturday, Dec. 3 from 9 am-3 pm.  The Street Squad Artists and the Arts Alive Mobile will be rolling up on Saturday from 11 am-noon and will be bringing supplies to make festive ornaments.  Admission is free (yay) and parking is free and plentiful (even better!).  You can find more details on their Facebook event page.

Also opening Friday is Main Line Art Center’s Holiday Fine Craft Sale!  This highly-anticipated sale runs through Dec. 11 and features an amazing assortment of one-of-a-kind fine crafts including handmade jewelry, ceramics, glass, wood, fabric and more…all handcrafted by 50 (that’s right…50!) professional artists from the region. The Holiday Fine Craft Sale is free and open to the public (again, lots of free parking here) and is supported by sponsor Bank of America. Hours are as follows: *Thurs., Dec. 1, 5-7 pm  (Members’ Early Shopping); Dec. 2: 10 am-9 pm; Dec. 3 & 4: 10 am-5 pm; Dec. 5-8: 10 am-7 pm; Dec. 9 &10: 10 am-5 pm; Dec. 11: 10 am-3 pm. Visit our website to browse through pictures of the amazing work and read through the impressive list of participating artists.

Make sure you take advantage of both of these wonderful sales. Happy Shopping (and art-making!)

So, what’s this Music Festival all about?  Well, for a mere $7 per ticket, you can enjoy an afternoon of live music and fun, including performances from bands The Plants (@ 11 am), Shine and the Moonbeams (@ noon), and Billy Kelly and the Blah Blah Blahs (@ 1 pm).  Add to that balloon sculptures and you’ve got a great afternoon!  Doors open at 10:30 am and you can purchase tickets here.

Because music is always more fun when you can play along, our Street Squad Artists will be in the house from 10:15 am-12:15 pm and will be toting supplies to make maracas.  We shall see you, and hopefully hear you, then!

The fun takes please at the Ridley Middle School (400 Free Street, Ridley Park, PA 19078) from 12-3 pm.  The event features carnival-inspired food and snacks, carnival games and prizes, face painting, demos by the police and fire departments, and of course, arts and crafts!  Our Street Squad Artists will be there from 2-3 pm and will be toting supplies to make tin tile covered sketchbooks.  Please come visit us and support another nonprofit in our community that is really making a difference!

So, to partner with First Friday Main Line (FFLM) on Nov. 4, a date they’ve dedicated to supporting emerging artists, makes perfect sense to us. FFML has planned quite a full roster of events highlighting up-and-comers (including the opening of our exhibition, PAINT! Emerging Philadelphia Artists Selected by Bill Scott), but our Street Squad Artists will be focusing on the littlest artists.  From 6-7 pm, you’ll find the Arts Alive Mobile crew at Gymboree Play & Music in Ardmore helping kids make these very cool sketchbooks with a tin tile cover.  Keep it handy throughout the night as you make your way through all of the venues and get inspired by the talent all around us.  See you there!

Patty with a participant in Main Line Art Center's program with the Delaware County Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Patty is a Teaching Artist, working largely with fiber and ceramics. She has taught children’s classes in painting, drawing, printmaking and ceramics at Main Line Art Center for the past 11 years, and also co-directs the summer camp program. In addition, Patty is very involved with teaching the Art Center’s Outreach Programs, including the Exceptional Art Program, designed for children and teens with physical and cognitive disabilities, and the Art Center’s program with the Chester County Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. These programs are central to the Art Center’s mission of “Art for Everyone” and are near and dear to Patty’s heart.

“I have been a teaching artist working with people of diversified ability for several years now,” said Patty. “I have had the pleasure of watching the exceptional growth of the art center community, serving all members with special consideration for the needs of every artist.”

Patty is excited to be a part of the Art Center’s “On the Road with Arts Alive” program as a Street Squad Artist.  She believes that the program serves the community as never before, truly in keeping with Main Line Art Center’s “Art for Everyone” mission. “As a Street Squad Artist, it is fun to see people waving and smiling at the decorative art van as we drive throughout the community!” she said.

Over the summer, Patty was very busy prepping for the Family Art Festival, the kick-off event for the Arts Alive Mobile.  As the Family Art Festival Coordinator, Patty led a committee that planned and managed the event, a job she found very fulfilling.

“I had the pleasure of seeing many new faces at the Art Center that day,” she said. “People were so excited to participate in a variety of art projects, from festive party hats to beautiful mosaic tiles.  There were many dedicated Art Center community volunteers assisting new families with art projects, while highly recommending Main Line Art Center’s classes, workshops and events from their own firsthand experience.”

Patty’s personal art is mixed media fabric collage dolls and birds using clay and soft sculpture, drawing, objects, and even poetry all within one personal composition. More recently, she has started experimenting with a technique of painting with wool.  Her work will be included in the Art Center’s upcoming Holiday Fine Craft Sale. For more about Patty, visit her website, or read her blog where she writes about her experiences as a Teaching Artist.

After swathing yourself in luxury goods, get a little nitty-gritty at the Cynwyd Heritage Trail Opening and Fall Festival at the Barmouth Station in Bala Cynwyd on Sunday, October 23. A treasure of flora and fauna, this trail is a two-mile long urban linear park that winds along the Schuylkill River into Manayunk.  In line with the opening of the new multi-faceted trail, the Arts Alive Mobile will be here with supplies for children to make festive fall leaf journals from 2 pm to 3 pm. Featuring a host of family-centered events from 1 pm to 4 pm, the Cynwyd Heritage is also offering scavenger hunts, face painting, food from local restaurants, and giveaways. Radio host Dan Reed will provide an eclectic music mix while Friends of the Cynwyd Trail are offering walking tours, signing up new members, and yes even handing out yummy trail mix. Everyone, including Fido, is welcome to come out and explore the new trail.  Hope to see you there, too!

Sharon began taking classes with her children at the Art Center and then took adult courses. With a long career as a graphic designer and art director, Sharon eventually switched media and became a successful ceramic artist. “My story encompasses what the Art Center is all about. I went from a parent taking her kids to art class, to a student to an exhibitor, to a teacher, to becoming a faculty rep for the Board of Directors, running the raku guild, and now the Arts Alive Mobile project,” says Sharon.

“We are trying to make each Art Alive ‘stop’ conducive to the event,” explains Sharon. For example, at the Haverford Music Festival the Street Squad Artists helped kids make maracas and at the Walk 4 Hearing nature walk the children did leaf rubbing sketch journals with leaves from the trail.  Adds Sharon, “We have such a wide range of ages that come by we try to create middle of the road projects so that younger kids can complete the project with help from their parents and teens can do them by themselves.”

There are six artists and a team of volunteers manning the Arts Alive Mobile at events that will be held at local schools, non-profit organizations, and senior centers. “Besides the raising the awareness of the Art Center factor, the Art Alive Mobile is a family event that everyone can share in,” says Sharon.  The Art Center is getting more and more requests from the community for the Mobile. “Like the art dog from the past, I love how people are starting to spot the van and make a connection with the Art Center,” says Sharon.

Learn more about Sharon and view her work on her website.  Her work will also be included in Main Line Art Center’s  highly-anticipated Holiday Fine Craft Sale, running Dec. 2-11.  Check out this adorable cream and sugar set that will be available at the sale.

While all of her fall children’s classes have already started, Sharon will be facilitating  Community Raku Firings on Tues., Nov. 1 from 6-9 pm and Thurs., Nov. 3 from 9:30 am-12:30 pm.  Call the Art Center to register!

CAFe is free and open to the public, and the Crane Arts Building has ample free parking and is wheelchair accessible.  Make sure you visit the CAFe website for a list of food vendors (cupcakes!) and the schedule of performances.  Should be a fun day – we hope to see you there!