Family Art Events On The Road

When we began planning this 3-month Airstream tour around the US, I knew right away that I wanted to host pop-up family art events along the way. I wanted to connect with families across the country and share creative activities that might inspire them to bring more art and creativity and into their lives. But how was I going to pull that off?

The best thing about being a blogger is the friendships that I have made with other art teachers and creative mamas around the world. So once we had our trip route down, I of course went straight to my community of art teacher friends along the route and asked them to collaborate on a family art event in their town.

Family Art Event Asheville, NC

Our first family art event was in Asheville, North Carolina, with Jean from The Artful Parent. Jean was the first blogger I began following back in 2009 and inspired me to start teaching toddler art classes in my back house all those years ago. If it wasn’t for Jean, I’m not sure if I would have ever began teaching art or blogging- and who knows what I would be doing now? So I was thrilled to start the trip off meeting Jean for the first time and co-hosting an awesome family art event with her in Asheville.

For this activity, we created mixed-media collages using fabric scraps, paper shapes, glue, oil pastels and chalk. We invited the families to first create a collage using the fabric and paper, and then draw on top of the collage with the oil pastels and chalk.

Family Art Event Fort Lauderdale, Fl

Our second family art event was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Jess from Growing Up Creative. This was our one event specifically for homeschoolers which was exciting for us as a new homeschooling family. We had so much fun hanging out with Jess’s tight-knit homeschool group and the other attendees that we stayed at the park for hours, chatting about life and education.

The art project for this event was a three step process. First the kids drew with oil pastels, then we brought watercolors out for them to add paint, then we finally brought small do-dads (shells, pom-poms, beads, etc.) and glue to add final touches to their work.

We also had a table set up for the moms at the event with materials to make CreFaLi flags. Each flag has 2 prompts: “I am grateful for” and “My family dream is”. We are asking people to answer the prompts and decorate the flags with their family dreams. Then, we are collecting each flag and stringing them on a long cord. By the end of the trip, we’ll have hundreds of flags representing family gratitude and dreams from across the country.

The kids were so proud of their work!

Family Art Event Austin, TX

Our third family art event was in Austin, Texas, with Amber from Figment Creative Labs (formerly Wee Warhols). Amber had a vision of families creating a large collaborative canvas together and they were a hit!

Large white canvases can be intimidating, so we started off blindfolding one person from each family and having them create the first marks with a Sharpie. This set a playful mood for the rest of the project and relieved any pressure to make it look “good.” The families had so much fun with this!

After the blindfolds were removed, the families began working with other drawing materials like oil pastels, paint sticks, and chalk. Then Amber pulled out the SPRAY PAINT! The kids went crazy for spray paint, especially when we brought stencils into the mix.

After the spray paint we offered Tempera paint, which Ora quickly decided to use for making foot prints. Then Aaron carried her around the yard shouting, “free footprints!” and would stamp her foot against the canvas of any takers.

Each family that attended our event went home with a gorgeous piece of art and wonderful memories!

At the end of each event, we have a raffle. One lucky family at the event gets to take home a generous book bundle and tote bag from Lonely Planet Kids. Lonely Planet creates books for kids to learn about the world through inspiring stories, quirky facts, and fun activities. It’s a seriously awesome package to win!

Thanks to Ooly for supplying art materials for the events, to Lonely Planet Kids for supplying the raffle prize and, of course, to Airstream for making this all possible! We are half way through our trip and have 3 more events to go. If you’re in the Los Angeles, Denver, or Chicago areas I hope you’ll join us! I’ll keep you posted on the event details as we move closer to the dates.