Our Elite team is for 10- 17 year olds. It is NOT about being the best artist in the room. Instead, It is about finding your team, your group. These teens come once a week for 24 weeks for art class instruction and from there we do field trips that are local (museums ect) and help at local volunteering events. Plus once a year we go on a National trip. This year we went to Phoenix Arizona. Why would we pick that? OH, SO MANY REASONS 👇
Day 1: Art Team trip - Chaotic arrival✈️
As the trip began we were dropped into chaos. Thankfully it wasn't a sign of the times and it didn't stay with us but it definitely through us for a loop.
Dang that ding: First our flights got delayed multiple times. Every time a new notification came on our phone we assumed another hour had been added. And five times later, the dinging finally subsided and our flights were back on track
No room in the inn: Mere hours before we were to check in for our Airbnb, we received another distressing notification when the house we rented was deemed unworthy of us. IE: the patrons before us had smoked and vandalized the property to the point where there was too much to clean before our team would need the space. And essentially we were told, there's no where for you and your entire team to stay.
Saved in the "Nick" of time: Mr. Nick (My husband), my 2 kids and I were wasting time at a local mall when the airbnb contacted us. It was then that a new player was called to the field. Miss Alaina had also driven down early to prep for the trip and between Nick and Miss Alaina they saved the day. Booking multiple rooms at a hotel and working to get the best price possible with our last minute adjustments. Nick put in hours talking to airbnb and Alaina put in hours working with Marriott. They were a dynamic duo as they cleared the way for our trip to still be a success.
Craft your troubles away: The hotel we were able to get into was so incredible with us and
let us use the common area to set up craft tables. We arranged an array of tables with keychain supplies for each of our team to create their own personalized way to distinguish their new Stanley mugs they got in their welcome kits. The results were downright adorable!
Day 2: Art team trip - Desert Palette🌵🎨
Hiking in the desert: I have a huge regret on this trip. And It's not what you may think. We had a lovely experience traipsing through the desert. No one got hurt, dehydrated and while the sun was hot, there were no sunburns of note. However, I was quite disappointed when I realized all of the amazing vegetation out there. I wish I had studied up more on the flora so I could have passed on the info. It's true what they say, desert flowers are stunning! and I wish I had known the names of the flowers, cacti and so much more.
Plein Air painting: We had been practicing in class painting with watercolor and even practiced using the incredible pochade boxes we have designed by https://www.instagram.com/newwaveart/
still some of us found it quite challenging to get the paint to do what we wanted. While others flourished. that's one of the amazing things about art. Each style, each new things is an opportunity to push ourselves and failing doesn't mean you are a bad artist, instead it means you are a victorious challenger. Trying new things can be hard. and we are so impressed that our students took on the challenge and pushed themselves.
Games galore: Prince of Paris lost his hat, some say this, some say that. I say, we had a great night playing silly games and laughing until our sides hurt.
Day 3: Barbie & the Medieval mayhem 🏰
Barbie's dream: Phoenix is home to the largest art museum in the southwestern United States, and is the first museum to display the Barbie Exhibit. We did a behind the scenes tour with our lovely docent Jonnnie. With life-size versions of Barbies clothing, to dolls I remember playing with as a girl, this exhibit was more than I expected and I had high expectations to begin with.
But on top of the Barbie Exhibit the phoenix art museum has 5 other exhibits. We were able to explore an infinity room (If you ever get a chance, TAKE IT), visit miniature rooms (Narcissa Niblack Thorne’s miniature rooms are replicas of actual historical interior spaces), and even some Hindu deities by Manjari Sharma. There were so many things to see, it was hard to get us out of there.
And that only covers the first part of the day. After the museum we had a lovely picnic in a park right down the street and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the event all the students claim as their favorite!
"Knight" to remember: To say that our art team loved their experience at medieval times is an understatement! Before our trip even began, we told the students they could dress up if they wished. I knew some would be very interested in this but almost all of them came dressed to the nines for their royal evening. But even with their royal gear on, we had a few nervous nelly's as the food came out and there were no utensils to eat on. True to the atmosphere and sticking with the era, no utensils are provided and I had a few stares my way to see what I would do. So I picked up the chicken leg and dove in. The team quickly followed suite.
The most exciting thing about the whole event though was obviously the show. With live horses, jousting, sword fighting and cheering with our banners, it was easy to get swept up in the flourish of the night and we all rose to our feet to cheer, boo, and even scream in excititment. To quote one of our students, "I didn't know I could get so invested into something like that"
The evening ended with a special proposal from one of our students to the Queen of the Castle. She laughed, we laughed and the entire evening was a "Knight" to remember
Day 4: Zoo-tiful Sketches 🦁✏️
Art on the wild side: As if a zoo wasn't enough to fill an artists palette, Phoenix zoo is also a host to 2 different Art Galleries. So after a yummy lunch in the park, we started by visiting one of the Displays and discussing what paintings we felt drawn to. It was interested to see the variety. Almost everyone was drawn to a different painting and the reasons varied as well. We guided our students with questions like, "What elements of art do you see in this painting?" "What is different about the use of line in this painting vs the last one we looked at?" "Who can you make your own artwork POP as you sketch the animals we see?"
After a great examination of these art pieces we sent our students out into the "Wild"
We divided into two groups to experience the zoo.
The "zoomies" sped walk through the zoo while sharing juicy “Grandma gossip” (made up stories of crazy adventures and long lost grandkids.) they were hilarious.
While the artists took their time and visited the animals flowers and even the butler bathroom (it was a rather fancy bathroom at the zoo) this group pulled out their sketch books at several animals and got some great drawings in of the real life animals in action
Wrapped and ready: With all of the events wrapped up and some of our students heading home early (those who drove), we sent our students home with gifts and mementos of the trip and those of us who stayed took the evening to enjoy the last of the warmth, soaking in the sun, and relax by the pool. All in all, I would say this trip was one for the books. I feel like all of our goals were achieved and a even a few new ones were sprinkles in
Bonded as a team
Learned that art comes in many different types, styles and mediums
Made new friends
Improved out own art
Let ourselves be silly and experience new things
Join the 2024-2025 Traveling art team Below ⬇️