Nature Art

Nature Art is called many things, including Ephemeral Art, Land Art, or Temporary Art. No matter what you call it, the purpose behind it is the same: to add a little creative beauty to the world around us.  

These pieces of art can be big or small and normally only last for a brief amount of time as the elements return to nature.

Some artists, such as Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Shilling, have even made careers out of this kind of art.

You don’t have to be a professional artist to see the beauty in the world around you or to transform it into a new work of art. 

Have you ever thought that a leaf looked like a hat? Or maybe that pine needles looked like hair? A rock could be a heart, or a stick could be a road. The possibilities are as wide as your imagination. Have fun and get creative! Just make sure to ask a grown-up before picking a plant or flower from a flowerbed. 

If you would like to read more about creating art from nature, check out this blog post from the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Virtual Program Feature: Andy Warhol Museum

We enjoyed our virtual visit with the Andy Warhol Museum this morning! We got a guided tour of the museum, learned all about the artist and his work, and watched a screen-printing demo.

Then we participated in a hands-on learning activity about the color wheel and then painted our own watercolors of Warhol’s Spring bugs.

The museum has a variety of online resources for kids and families. Here are a couple of links to further resources that you might want to explore with your children: 

If you would like to sign up for any of our live virtual programs for kids – storytimes, book clubs, arts and crafts, STEAM, and presenters of all kinds – please visit our website or call the Children’s Desk at 330-653-6658, ext 1020. We have lots to offer!

Coloring Pages from Therapy Dog Bing

Our furry friend Bing is one of the therapy dogs who visits our library often for Tail Waggin’ Tutors. While she has been at home these past few months, his owner had a friend make some coloring pages of Bing and his brothers for us to share with our young patrons. They are posted here on our Crafts & Activities page for you to download and color! There will be a new page available each week this summer, for a total of ten pages.

Bing

Bing was rescued by GRIN (Golden Retrievers In Need) when he was 5 months old and was adopted a month later when he was 6 months old.  Bing attended formal dog training with his owners, and three days after he turned one year old, he passed both his TDI (Therapy Dogs International) and CGC (Canine Good Citizen) tests on the same day! Bing visits the Cleveland Clinic and a few libraries in the area, including the Hudson Library.

Nugget

Nugget is Bing’s older brother, and he is also a therapy dog at local hospitals. Nugget loves to carry his leash in his mouth and stays right with his owners when walking at the local park. His owner calls him a natural therapy dog – everyone loves Nugget, and he loves everyone right back!

Casper

Casper is Bing’s other brother, and is “the sweetest boy” as his owner calls him. He loves people and dogs. Casper is not a therapy dog, but someday he would like to be a search-and-rescue dog!

A big thank you to Bing’s, Nugget’s, and Casper’s owner, Amy, for sharing these coloring pages with us. We are excited to see Bing back at the library, when Tail Waggin’ Tutors is able to start up again!

Kids’ Crafts & Activities on the Blog

Here on the Youth Services blog, we now have a page of crafts and activities that our staff has made for our young patrons. The page is easily accessible in the top menu on each blog page.

Make a monster puppet, create a car wash for your toy cars, practice some zen art, or take our body and mind challenge! There are many possibilities, and each one can be done at home and with materials that you already have.

On this new crafts and activities page, you will find a variety of crafts, as well as printable games and challenges, and also crafts from specific children’s programs at our library. Each project is both viewable and printable as a PDF file. Have fun completing them!

We would love to see what you create and appreciate any feedback you have about other items we can provide.

We will be adding to this page regularly, so please check back often!

Children’s Art Show Opens Today!

We are so excited to unveil our Spring 2020 Children’s Art Show! We are so proud of our young artists and the work they’ve made so far this year. With a variety of styles and subjects, this collection will teach you, inspire you, and bring you joy.

Here is the link to the online gallery.

Hint: click on a piece of art, and then you can easily navigate from piece to piece.

Enjoy! 

Many thanks to the children who participated in the show. We hope you had fun and enjoy seeing your work in the online gallery. Great job! Keep creating!