\#\#\# Program Updates \*\*Birthday Parties at The Art Garage\!\*\* <span class="colour" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)">Looking for a great place to celebrate a birthday? The Art Garage will create a fantastic party for you! We tailor our special events to ensure we meet the guest of honor's interests. You can choose from one of our popular themes or contact us to discuss your own and we will create a project to go along it. Parties are available on Saturdays in August and we can't wait to celebrate with you!</span> Learn more `[HERE](`[`https://artgaragedenver.com/articles/91`](https://artgaragedenver.com/articles/91)`)`! \*\*Join The Art Garage Board of Directors\!\*\* The Art Garage is seeking diverse and unique community members for The Art Garage Board of Directors! Please fill out or pass along our `[`[`interest form`](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelPPkMBBD_lScuzrr9J0eGsCgQDYs9MDD_wyHdXwmHyGCHwg/viewform)`](`[`https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelPPkMBBD_lScuzrr9J0eGsCgQDYs9MDD_wyHdXwmHyGCHwg/viewform`](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelPPkMBBD_lScuzrr9J0eGsCgQDYs9MDD_wyHdXwmHyGCHwg/viewform)`)` to anyone interested in contributing to The Art Garage. \*\*Featured June Class: Dr\. Seuss Taxidermy\!\*\* Our 9-12 year old campers the week of June 6th created "Dr. Seuss Taxidermy" - busts of incredible, imaginary creatures inspired by Dr. Seuss' work! Students finished camp by writing Dr. Seuss inspired biographies for their creatures and their sculptures and writing blew us away! \*\*The Coglaphant\*\* (a mix of a dog, camel and elephant) By Calvin S. The Coglaphant can come in many different shapes and sizes They can be square, they can be a circle Some look like a bear and some are purple They can be tall and they can be small Some come with humps and some with trunks They might even like to chase the tail that comes out of their rumps! Coglapohants make great pets The best pet I bet you could get Also, Coglaophants are from Oglaphantland! Coglaphant, Spoglaphant, Doglaphant, and Froglaphant land! Coglaphants eat plenty They’ll eat until their plate is empty They eat fish, they eat meats, and even sheets Well I guess they eat any dish Coglaphants can be any size so it has no fear Even if there’s a weird looking deer \*\*Galaxy\*\* (a mix of a crocodile, frog, and dinosaur) By Anna V. Galaxies come to look like a lot of sizes They can be thick, they can be long, They can look like a brick, they can even sing you a song! Galaxies do different things depending on their color If they are blue they can make stew If they are red they will make your bed If they are brown they will never frown Galaxies can be used for pest control And I promise they will do their best! Galaxies are mostly from Galexty land There are Galaxies, there are Zalexies And finally Taxitaxies Galaxies eat x-birds, fed x-birds Luffy duffy fish They eat any dish of fish See Galaxies here don’t have any fear \*\*Featured Upcoming Classes:\*\* \*\*Teen Print and Embroider\*\* with Riana Casas - Sundays, August 7th-28th, 12-2PM, Ages 13-18 This 5-week session is perfect for any skill level and will be structured to ensure you learn the aspects of hand building, wheel throwing, and glazing. Students will develop and grow their ceramic skills through techniques and projects led by our skilled instructor. Register today `[HERE](`[`https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4006`](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4006)`)`! \*\*Added Summer Camps\!\*\* Join us for an added week of summer camps August 22nd-26th! From `[`[**`Emotion Commotion`**](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4018)`](`[`https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4018`](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4018)`)` for ages 3-4 and `[`[**`3-2-1 Blast Off!`**](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4019)`](`[`https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4019`](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4019)`)` for ages 5-6 to `[`[**`Weaving`**](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4020)`](`[`https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4020`](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses/4020)`)` for ages 7-10, your young artists are sure to create some incredible masterpieces and have a ton of fun! \*\*There's so much more to explore at The Art Garage\!\*\* See all of our upcoming classes for toddlers\, kids\, teens\, and adults `[HERE](`[`https://artgaragedenver.com/courses`](https://artgaragedenver.com/courses)`)`! \#\#\# Events in our Community \*\*Affordable Arts Fest\*\* at Arapahoe Community College (5900 South Santa Fe Drive, 80120), August 28th, 9AM-3PM Imagine an arts festival where you can afford all of the art in all of the booths. AAF has over 160 artists selling their work for $100 or less - don't miss out on this opportunity to support local artists, fill your home with art, and find unique gifts! Buy Tickets `[HERE](`[`https://aaf.wellattended.com/events/affordable-arts-festival`](https://aaf.wellattended.com/events/affordable-arts-festival)`)`! \*\*Free Day at the DAM\*\* Visit the Denver Art Museum on Sunday, July 31st from 10AM - 9PM to enjoy FREE general admission! See all of SCFD's upcoming Free Days `[HERE](`[`https://scfd.org/find-culture/free-days/`](https://scfd.org/find-culture/free-days/)`)`! \#\#\# Community Resources \*\*Hate Free Colorado Survey\*\* "Hate Free Colorado is conducting a survey to better understand hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents in Colorado. The results will be used to develop the most effective response and prevention strategies to combat hate crimes. Your responses will be anonymous and kept completely confidential. While we will report on the aggregate results of the survey, your privacy will be respected, and personal information not shared with outside parties."  Take the survey `[HERE](`[`https://hatefreeco.org`](https://hatefreeco.org/)`)`! \*\*The Life and Death of Sam Gilliam: One of the most important and influential abstract visual artists in the U\.S\.\*\* "Sam Gilliam, a great colorist whose work influenced generations of artists, was 88 years old. His death was announced in June by the Pace Gallery, which had represented him since 2019 ... He was very interested in freeing his paintings from the boundaries of canvases and frames. Instead, in his Drape works of the 1960s, he took unstretched canvases and hung them from ceilings or pinned them in great waterfalls to walls. Each time his work — part painting, part sculpture — was installed in an exhibition, it hung differently, never the same way twice.” Read the full article `[HERE](`[`https://www.npr.org/2022/06/27/1107915923/artist-sam-gilliam-died`](https://www.npr.org/2022/06/27/1107915923/artist-sam-gilliam-died)`)`! \*\*Joyous Book Club\*\* Monthly book recommendations from The Art Garage's Community Liaison, Joy Giles \*\*Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky\*\* This is a story that allows the reader to peek into the life of Grayson Sender, a middle schooler who is grappling with their identity and how to express on the outside what they are feeling and living on the inside. It’s a book about amazing courage - not only Grayson’s but also their fellow students’, teachers’ and family members’ who didn’t just stand by but stood up to support Grayson in the face of ignorance and cowardice. And, as in many of my favorite books, art (this time acting) is there as a saving grace! \*\*Dear Mrs\. Bird by AJ Pearce\*\* This book invites the reader into the life of Emmy Lake, a young woman in 1940’s England who thinks she has found her dream job as a war correspondent. She soon realizes that, in fact, she will just be reading through letters sent in to a women’s magazine. Disappointed, she sticks with it and decides she’ll do her best to help the women who have sent in requests for advice. However, “doing her best” will have it’s consequences! This book will really run the gamut of your emotions! Emmy's journey is about friendship, camaraderie, first love, and love of country and her story is thought provoking - you’ll really think about “right” and “wrong” and the consequences of good intentions. Even though this book takes place in England during World War II, the reality of Emmy and her friends' daily lives living through war is quite relevant to what the Ukrainian people and many others are going through today.