Steinbeck Festival Workshop: Visual Rhythms

Above: Pattern tile created in Repper from photo of below.

Abive: Hair salon mural in the Alisal neighborhood of Salinas, California.

On May 5th from 2-5pm I will be conducting a youth workshop for the Steinbeck Festival at the Alisal Center for Fine Arts. The Visual Rhythms: Community Pattern Workshop will engage children in creating patterns that representing their community. Using both traditional and digital media, youth will explore imagery that symbolizes their neighborhood. They will also write statement explaining the inspiration for their designs. Using the freeware digital tool, Repper, students will create digital patterns from photos of their community.

Students create radial patterns reflecting on community using tracing paper, color pencils, and markers.

Orange chair at Salinas Adult School, Alisal, Salinas, California.

Radial pattern repeat created in Repper from photo above.

Students will be using a flickr set of images of Alisal Salinas to create their digital patterns. Each participant will be able to print a window decal of their design to take home.

repeat pattern and pattern tile created in Repper printed on decal film.

Decal placed on window.

Participants will also be able to explore radial pattern design in an exercise using tracing paper. Sample images here.

A wii remote interactive surface set up will enable children to take turns creating a large scale projected mural pattern on one of the art center wall.

The project is made possible by a donation loan of 10 computer tablets by the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College.

As an extension of this project, student images will be uploaded for use in the Slot Shelters Project sponsored by the ZERO1 Biennial . Patterns created in this workshop will be used by other students as surfaces on their Google SketchUp building explorations.