artshack WRITTEN BY LAUREN SPEIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY BY NAOHMI MONROE
Creativity and colour are bursting from the walls of ARTSHACK, a Brooklyn-based non-profit ceramics and art studio. Artist and educator McKendree Key first opened Artshack’s doors in 2008 in hopes of providing an outlet for kids to flourish in their artistic abilities without the confinement of rules. Three years later, Key teamed up with product designer Dany Rose, and together they continue to foster young imaginations while building critical thinking skills through ceramics, silk-screening, felting and a range of other mediums. In guiding kids through the process of ceramics in particular, Key and Rose aim to remind them that the journey to a finished piece (or anything they want badly enough) is rarely straightforward and clear. “Ceramics teaches kids about form, function, creativity, color and imagination,” Key says. “It also involves science and chemistry. It’s so important for kids to see the entire process, and to get their hands dirty.” Artshack’s doorstep not only welcomes children, but adults too, and when they experience a creative block, Key always advises: “Take a minute and watch what the kids are up to... It’ll put it all in perspective. Kids are the best artists– they always think of things we never would have thought of, like a two headed teapot.” Not only do Key and Rose direct classes for all ages, they also use Artshack’s space for parties. “There’s always something to celebrate,” Key says. “We do wheel throwing parties and handbuilding parties with wet clay, as well as painting parties where you can glaze our bisques items made by Artshack members and kids.” Artshack welcomes newcomers with a smile, and if there was one piece of advice Key and Rose would give, it would be: “The wheel masters wedge their clay 100 times before they throw, and rarely keep what they make.”
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