Greetings fellow creatives!
It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? Meg checking in from Studio 2 Makings in the thick of the dog days of summer. As the arts workshops in the Quad Cities ease from July heat toward that first hint of fall, I wanted to catch you up on where things have been and where they’re headed, because there’s a lot brewing!
Recent recap
This summer was a big one. I got to present the Quad Cities Flood Protection Corridor Map alongside scientists and city leaders at its public debut, a project commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation and built from ArcGIS data and IDNR endangered species records. If you want the longer story behind it, I talked through the whole process on Quad City Arts’ Talking Art podcast on WVIK NPR.
I also wrapped up a run of Digital Art and Animation sessions with East Moline Public Library, teaching arts workshops in everything from Tayasui Sketches, Sketchbook, Procreate, through Procreate Dreams with a great group of students. Take a peek at some of what they created below!
This June, I had the pleasure of spending a full Saturday out on a 45-acre prairie for Rooted in Place, my botanical printing retreat. We had a great time getting to know the land over learning various printmaking techniques, and learning about the local flora within our region. It was a special experience, and I couldn’t have asked for a better time, season, and temperature for our shared learning activities.
Studio 2 Makings will be creating another retreat next year, so keep an eye on Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat’s newsletter for workshop openings. They have so many other cool learning experiences available as well. I invite you to take a peek at some stunning student work and what we were up to below:
What is something you would like to learn or experience out on the prairie? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
In July, we attended The MONfest in Madrid, Iowa as an arts vendor. Located at the beautiful Cellar Winery, Monfest highlights rural talent in music, performance, and the arts. Here’s a few snapshots of some slow-food discoveries throughout my time away:
We also completed a Paper Engineering Workshop Series for both Youth and Adults at the Bettendorf Library. The students put on their worldbuilding hats, and created immaculate 3d renderings from paper and collage elements based on a historical bookmaking process. Check out some of their stunning work below!
Upcoming fall workshops
Fall is shaping up to be exciting. Translating Nature, my ten-workshop mixed media environmental arts series, has been rolling strong, and our next public session is this Saturday August 1st at The Riverside Gardens. Join us in exploring Quad Cities environmental and flood mitigation data through creative artmaking. Learn something new, meet someone new, try something new! You can still register here.
Sneak Peeks for Fall
Family Environmental Arts Session @ Moline Public Library
Linocut Printmaking- Blackhawk PACE Program
Family STEAM Night @ The Putnam Museum
More on those later, your girl is summer-tired. That said, are you interested in having or hosting an arts workshop in the Quad Cities or beyond? Contact me!
Thanks for sticking with me through a quiet stretch. More coming soon! Stay cool out there.
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Xo,
Meg
Studio 2 Makings