This just in! Can you tell who the artist is by their hands? An homage to the Chuck Jones-directed, "High Note" for this year's Red Dot Auction, acrylic on canvas, 12" square, signed on the verso. Which artist's work will you go home with on May 11?Online pre-bidding begins Friday, April 20 at 8 AM PDT at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot!
Red Dot Auction VIII--Tickets Now Available!
Save-the-date! The eighth annual Red Dot Auction is scheduled for Friday, May 11 from 7 to 10 PM! Tickets, $25 for main event and $100 for the Preview hour (5:30 to 7 PM) are available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. You’ll find the cure for “Empty Wall Syndrome” at the Red Dot Auction. Over 100 artists from around the globe have contributed one or more 12” square canvases and 3D art objects to this special fundraising event. What differentiates The Red Dot Auction from other silent art auctions is that the contributing artists have signed their artwork on the reverse of the canvas. Consequently, attendees at the event will not know who the artist is when bidding, they’ll only have their heart to follow.
“The artists who are participating come from all levels of notoriety, skill, and accomplishment, from students to emerging to established artists; we reached out around the world hoping to capture the imagination and appreciation of these artists. We are thankful that they were willing to help us achieve our goal of promoting creativity by providing a nurturing environment where it may grow and blossom,” said Craig Kausen, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Center.
Watch this space for a special announcement, coming soon!
Chuck Jones? Einstein? Wile E. Coyote? A nonprofit boosts the common thread — imagination
Chuck Jones? Einstein? Wile E. Coyote? A nonprofit boosts the common thread — imaginationWonderful article in Friday's OC Register about the Center and the work it does. If you ever wondered what the Center is all about, this article will tell you.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” — Albert Einstein.
Craig Kausen has a crazy childhood memory of his grandfather, Chuck. It takes place in the summer of 1972 in the backyard of Chuck’s Cameo Shores house in Corona del Mar.
Craig was 10 years old. His brother Todd was 11. Chuck told his grandsons to put on some swim fins. Then he tied them up with twine at their ankles, their knees and their elbows.
And he pushed them into the pool. [read the full article here.]
What Will Your Photobomb Be?
This is a big month for the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity!Along with our participation in this year’s Festival of Children—be sure to stop by on Saturday, September 9 between noon and 4 PM at the Carousel in South Coast Plaza—we’ll have a fun, easy creative activity in progress—we have a great opportunity to win a $50,000 grant from Festival of Children Foundation by participating in their NCAM Photobomb Challenge. But we need your help!
During September, you can upload your favorite photobomb photo or video to indi.com/2017ncamchallenge and select the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. If we are the first charity to win an “Indi Buzz” score of 500,000 we will win the $50,000 grant to spread more CREATIVITY to the children who need it most.
SPREAD THE WORD! This is where you can help:
Upload your favorite photobomb to indi.com/2017ncamchallenge and select Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.
Create “Indi Buzz” around your photo or video by sharing on your social media. The more likes, comments, reposts, etc., the more the score will GROW!
Want to get extra CREATIVE? Use the Looney Tunes characters and/or backgrounds shown in this blog post to enhance your photobomb! Remember to include © Warner Bros. in your photo or video bomb if you do use these images.
You can share as many photobombs as you want. Use #NCAMCHALLENGE when sharing to stay connected.
We hope you’ll take advantage of this great opportunity to help the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity win $50,000 by exercising your genius! Thank you for helping us make a better, more productive and creative world.
Presence: An Invitation to Be Your Creative and Authentic Self
Words Alive, a leading literacy organization, provides integrative literary programming within 16 classrooms in Momentum Learning (formerly Juvenile Court & Community Schools), which includes a book club, writing program and annual arts project. Through this comprehensive programming, students experience attitudinal shifts toward reading, their education and futures, in addition to building upon their vocabulary, critical thinking, literary analysis and soft-skills.Each year through the Teen Services art program, our students have an opportunity to look at literacy through a different lens and find meaningful relationships to books and the world. As part of the arts program, students have an opportunity to make intrinsic connections to written text through a form of art they create.
This year, students will design their own stop animation film through a partnership with the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. With this project, we focused on the theme "presence," and students read and discussed several prolific texts, including Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates), The Crossover (Kwame Alexander) and Letters to a Young Artist (Anna Deavere-Smith) with groups of trained volunteers in the classroom.
Students wrote a letter about themselves to a person or place of their choice. The letter served as a basis for the subsequent art project: the animated films. As a culmination of text, book discussion and art, students will have an opportunity to showcase their animated films at an event, open to the public, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 6 at the Chuck Jones Gallery (232 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92101) with an online gallery available on the Words Alive website to follow: www.wordsalive.org.
To learn more about the reception at the Chuck Jones Gallery and to RSVP, click here.
Autism Resource Mom at the Center
Autism Resource Mom, a local Orange County organization that provides support, guidance and hope for parents of children with autism, held a year-end creativity workshop for their children (and themselves) at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity on Monday, December 5th. Debora Smith, founder of ARM, had this to say about the evening:"I’m happy to report that AUTISM RESOURCE MOM’s holiday event was yet another huge success! I’m thrilled we were able to sneak one more of these in before the end of the year. Our families were in agreement—they absolutely loveDenise and her artist assistants.
"What I enjoy about the evening is watching our kids “get lost” in their creations and in doing so, feel comfortable enough to let their guard down a bit. And I know their anxieities are lessened because the kids are talking with peers, talking with other adults, making social connections. It’s quite remarkable.
"In the Post-Event Survey, one question reads: What are the top 3 things you liked about tonight’s Art & Creativity Workshop? Here are some responses:
The giggles, the creativity and no judgement
So creative, very organized and fun
It was fun, relaxing; kids could move around as needed, not restrictive
The helpers were fun and encouraging, the flexibility, different projects to choose from
That our kids are very creative and need a space and opportunity to expand it; and socially this is a great event
Very laid back, awesome venue, great selection of activities at the different stations
"The final headcount was: 26 parents/kids; 2-man video crew for Autism Resource Mom; 1 reporter from the OC Register; 3 CJCC awesome artist helpers and last but not least, the one-and-only Denise Dion-Scoyni [the lead teaching artist at the Center]!
"On behalf of our entire organization and all our families, we are profoundly grateful to everyone at Chuck Jones Center for Creativity for working with us to make this possible. It’s becoming one of our signature events—and I think that’s pretty cool."
More information about ARM available here.
Lil' Elves Gift-making Workshop
Monday, December 19Lil Elves Gift-Making Workshop
3 to 8:30 PM
Drop Off & Dine available from 5:30 to 8:30
Enjoy a nice dinner out in SoCo while we keep your lil' Elves busy and creative making one-of-a-kind gifts.
Paint a mini-canvas
Create a keepsake by bending paper
Mold an ornament from clay
$10 per person per hour. For each additional sibling add $3 per hour. Grilled cheese kids meal from Iron Press can be purchased. Children must be 4+ years old. Two hour minimum. Parents agree to stay within SoCo or the OC Mix.
Each of the following restaurants at South Coast Collection are offering discounts or other specials for this Drop Off and Dine program. Coupons available when you check-in with your child. Shuck Oyster Bar, Pueblo, The Cheese Shop, Iron Press, Timakira, We Olive. (Special discounts good only night of 12/19/16.)
Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?
With just two days left before the Red Dot Auction, we wanted to share with you the stories of the artists who have donated art work (or in some cases, more than one) to this year’s Red Dot Auction. This fundraiser, now in its sixth year, benefits the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Today we feature artist Melissa Phillips. Melissa Mae Phillips (a.k.a., The Cheeky Whale) has been painting, illustrating and designing for nearly 20 years. She currently lives in Utah with her husband and 2 children. She can be reached via her website wwww.thecheekywhale.com or on all social media: @thecheekywhale.
Will you go home with Melissa's donation to this year's Red Dot Auction? (It's beautiful, sweet, and funny BTW.) Ticket’s available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is now available at Heritage Auctions, click here to place your bids
Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?
With just a week left before the Red Dot Auction, we wanted to share with you the stories of the artists who have donated art work (or in some cases, more than one) to this year’s Red Dot Auction. This fundraiser, now in its sixth year, benefits the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Today we feature artist Naylene Justis.Naylene Justis has been fascinated by drawing since she was able to hold a crayon. She has been equally fascinated with silliness, and so cartoons have been a lifelong passion. She studied animation at Cal State Fullerton where she graduated in 2012. She currently works as a caricature artist at Downtown Disney turning real people into cartoon drawings. When she isn’t drawing cartoons or devouring mammoth novels she can often be found volunteering at the Chuck Jones Center.
Will you go home with Naylene's donation to this year's Red Dot Auction? Ticket’s available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is now available at Heritage Auctions, click here to place your bids
Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?
With just a week left before the Red Dot Auction, we wanted to share with you the stories of the artists who have donated art work (or in some cases, more than one) to this year’s Red Dot Auction. This fundraiser, now in its sixth year, benefits the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Today we feature artist Jimm Nawrocki.My current work is mixed media collage with a facial or figurative imagery focus.
I generally start out with an image that I have manipulated with the computer and print out this image on my ink jet printer. I then take that image, make different versions of it through additional manipulations, and cut and paste parts of these versions onto the original image to create a new image. I will also add different elements, tape, googly eyes, stickers, news print, wire mesh, cardboard or whatever, to the image to change it even more.
I don’t know that I have a specific goal or end result in mind when I go through this building process. I am very much drawn to making the image into something else, pushing it into a different direction, and just seeing what happens. I want my creation to have a certain ambiguity or uncertainty. My art should express a range of ideas and give the viewer something to think about.
This is Jimm's sixth year contributing a work to the Red Dot Auction; will you go home with it? Ticket’s available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is now available at Heritage Auctions, click here to place your bids
Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?
Dan has described himself as an artist trapped in a deputy sheriff's body, as described in a 2012 Press-Enterprise article entitled, "Sheriff's Deputy Doubles as Artist." While he prides himself on the work he does for his community in uniform, his true love is, has always been, and will always be, creating art. He has been creating artwork in one medium or another since he can remember, literally since the age of 4. He looks forward to a day in the very near future when the artist in him can break free at last so as to devote his full time to his passion, which, of course, is art.Dan is a self-taught artist in every sense of the term. His keen, inborn ability was recognized very early on during his school career. Every instructor he had recognized his natural abilities and would challenge Dan to try many different mediums, including acrylic painting, water color, pen and ink, pencil renderings, and stained glass. There was no challenge too great. Finally, his instructors had to admit that there was nothing they could teach him. It was as if he was just born with a natural understanding of how the paint works to perfectly blend colors and create shading surpassing anything they had ever seen.
Dan has mastered the ability to create digital art on an iPad using his finger in place of a brush, resulting in amazing custom portraits and other interesting subjects which he then converts to Giclee prints on canvas or paper. The true-to-life resemblance and attention to detail he brings to each piece will have you asking, How does he do that?
Dan has done many commissioned pieces throughout the years and has donated countless pieces of art to churches, college jazz band calendars, the Leukemia Foundation, and the Juvenile Diabetes Walk, to mention just a few.
Dan Bowden's passion for his art is stronger than ever before, and his commitment to his art has become the very definition of who he is. He describes it as the driving force which fuels his creativity to new levels each day.
Those who have seen his artwork often comment on the vivid detail, depth of color, and hidden gems to look for in each piece of art, as he incorporates the Dove of Peace in all of his work.
Upholding peace in his community as a deputy sheriff by day and creating unique images of peace for his community by night, Dan Bowden is a gift to us all to be appreciated for years to come. www.danbowdenfineart.com
Will you go home with Dan's artwork at this year's Red Dot Auction? Get your tickets at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is live at HA.com/759.
Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?
With less than three weeks until the Red Dot Auction, we wanted to share with you the stories of the artists who have donated art work (or in some cases, more than one) to this year's Red Dot Auction. This fundraiser, now in its sixth year, benefits the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Today we feature artist Eric Scales. Eric Scales has been an illustrator for 15 years. An animation fan from a young age, Eric loves capturing moments from memorable cartoons. He has illustrated books for Dreamworks, Hasbro, and Scholastic Publishing and he recently completed a dozen paintings for Walt Disney Imagineering to be used at the upcoming Shanghai Disneyland Resort. Eric currently creates artwork and animation cels for the Disneyland Resort in California. This is his fourth year contributing to the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity's Red Dot Auction.
Will you go home with Eric's work at this year's Red Dot Auction? Be there to find out. Ticket's available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is now available at Heritage Auctions, click here to place your bids.
"Use a Bigger Brush"-- A. Starr, Artist and Doctor of Neurology
"Chance favors the prepared mind," said Arnold Starr, artist and founder of UCI's neurology department, quoting Louis Pasteur. Last Friday, Craig Kausen, spent a few hours with A. Starr (that's how he signs his paintings) at his home in coastal south Orange County talking about many different topics including what is "it" that people are searching for? "Their color" the response. As well as touching on the topics of creativity, arts education today, neurology, science, and discovery, We were fortunate to have video-taped the conversation and over the next few months hope to share snippets of that conversation with our readers. By the way, "use a bigger brush," was Starr's answer to "I don't paint often because I have to think too hard about it." Advice we're taking to heart.
Photo by Stephen Russo.
Music Vault Academy to Support Red Dot Auction with Musical Performance
Music Vault Academy of Laguna Niguel will support the Red Dot Auction 2016 preview night by providing a musical interlude and performance on Thursday, May 12th. It's a not-to-be-missed performance by young students utilizing and expanding their creativity through the musical arts.From beginning piano lessons to a state of the art recording studio, the Music Vault Academy has it all in one amazing place. Designed to provide an all-inclusive music education, the school’s programs start with services that include lessons for beginners and end with pairing students together to learn to play as a band or ensemble and create incredible music that can then be performed, recorded and promoted.
Lessons are customized to the needs of each individual student; and that includes the style of music that students want to play, be it classical, rock, jazz, country or pop.
Performing experience is greatly emphasized and students have many opportunities to sing at multiple student shows a year, held by the school, and other events held throughout Orange County.
The stage, sound-proofed rooms, recording studio and courses in Live Sound, DJ-ing and Music Production complement the extensive educational opportunities the school offers to current and future musicians.
A Twisted Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Chuck Jones Center for Creativity Presents a Creative Classroom Led byLeigh Rubin, Author & Illustrator of the Syndicated Comic Strip, Rubes®
Sunday, November 15 from 2 to 4 PM
A Musical Performance by Andrew Rubin Will Close the Workshop
Costa Mesa, Ca: Need more humor in your life? The world is a serious place and let’s face it, we all need to lighten up. There really is humor in almost any situation, but how do we find it? All it takes is a bit of mental twist to look at your world in a funny way. Discover the humor in your own life by mentally stepping out of your normal routine and into your very own twistedly absurd and funny world! This illustrated lecture and workshop is a comic adventure inside the ridiculously twisted mind of Leigh Rubin, Rubes® cartoonist and “sit down” comic. This afternoon presentation is free and open to the public and is recommended for ages 10 and above. At the end of the lecture, Leigh’s talented musician son, Andrew, will perform for approximately one-half hour.
Leigh Rubin began his cartooning career in 1978 by establishing his own greeting card company, Rubes® Publications. His first cartoon collection, the popular Notable Quotes musical cartoons was published in 1981. Originally self-syndicated, 2014 marked the 30th anniversary of his daily cartoon, Rubes®, which is now distributed by Creators Syndicate to more than 400 newspapers and media outlets worldwide. Rubes® appears in major daily metropolitan newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Daily News, the Vancouver Sun, the Oregonian, the Staten Island Advance, the Washington Times, the Sacramento Bee, the Houston Chronicle, and the Orange County Register. Rubin recently launched a new website, WhyGrowUp.Club, celebrating life’s simple pleasures.
The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity’s Creative Classroom began with a workshop led by children’s author and illustrator, Kelly Light, in February 2015 and is a quarterly free-to-the-public workshop presented by the Center. Award-winning actor and illustrator, Richard Kinsey delighted the summer crowd with his innovative take on storytelling. The Center is pleased to present “A Twisted Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste”, led by the funny and charming, Leigh Rubin, as part of this ongoing series.
Andrew Rubin, of California's Central Coast, has been cultivating his passion for music since he was thirteen years old. He is best known as the lead guitarist of the rock trio, The Spaces Between, and has a background of various musical projects involving Pop, Jazz, Funk, and more. In more recent times, Andrew discovered a new-found love for classical music and, with support from peers and mentors, has taken up composition. Now 20, he is currently working on his third classical piece, and aims to continue with great vigor the writing and performance that brings him so much joy, as well as further exploration and progress in all branches of his musical career. The Center is pleased to present Andrew Rubin in a short concert appearance after his father’s workshop.
The Leigh Rubin Creative Classroom is on Sunday, November 15, 2015 from 2 to 4 PM. It is free and open to the public. RSVP is required. Please contact Programs@ChuckJonesCenter.org or call 949-660-7793 x 107 to reserve your seat.
Intermediate and Advanced Painting Class with Robert Richert
Learn from one of the best!The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is now hosting Intermediate and Advanced painting classes for adults previously experienced in acrylic or oil painting. Students will work with our talented Teaching Artist Robert A. Richert, who is a realist painter. Robert earned a BA degree in illustration and biomedical art at Cal-State, Long Beach. He has been a professional artist for 33 years and his paintings hang in fine art galleries around the country. During his early career Robert specialized in wildlife subjects. In 1982 he won the California Duck Stamp contest and in 2002 he was awarded the Connecticut Duck Stamp. Today Robert specializes in acrylic paintings of California seascapes and landscapes, and several have sold for over five figures.
For the first class, please bring 3-5 pieces of your artwork or images from your portfolio. The actual artwork is preferred. The process will begin with a 30 minute consultation. Robert will evaluate your skill level and understanding about the fundamentals of painting. Fundamentals include: color theory, composition, perspective, light and form, structure and space, drawing skills, brush strokes, and more. This will allow Robert to teach around your established skill set and provide you with constructive, positive feedback. During classes students are allowed the option to begin a brand new piece or bring a painting in progress.
Take advantage of the opportunity to further hone your paintings skills and build greater confidence in your abilities under the tutelage of a professional!
Classes will take place at the Center each Monday from 7:30-9:30PM. The class contains 6 sessions spread over 6 weeks; September 21st – October 26th. The total cost for the 30 minute consultation and the 6 week session is $299. Supplies will not be provided; each student must bring his or her own brushes and paints and take them home at the end of every class. Minimum 5 students required. 30 minute consultation required before first day of class! Contact (949) 660-7793 x107 or Programs@ChuckJonesCenter.org to book your consultation today!
REGISTER TODAY!
Creativity Camp Update! July 27-30 for Animals Have Feelings Too!
Our summer Creativity Camps have been fun filled and busy for all our campers!We've canceled our Theater/Dance: Express Your Inner Cartoon Camp that was scheduled for July 20-23.
Join us for "Animals Have Feelings Too" July 27-30!
As July comes to an end, the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is hosting an additional week of our Summer Creativity Camps from July 27th – July 30th! Due to high interest, we are hosting one of our most loved Camps: Animals Have Feelings Too. Your kids will work with our talented teaching artists to enrich their understanding of Color Theory, Modeling, Mixed Media, and Murals. They will find the rich spectrum of color in peacock feathers, intricate designs in the shells of sea turtles, shapes in fish and sea life, and much more! We can’t wait for you to come “Meow! Hiss! Moo! Caw!” with us today and explore all of the fun connections between art and the natural world around us.
Details: Drop off by 9:00am, pick up by 1:00pm. No early-morning or late-afternoon childcare will be provided. Bring a snack, water, and brown-bag lunch. You can purchase a lunch from neighboring eateries. Place your order at the time of drop off with cash payment. Dress for a mess!
For more information, Programs@ChuckJonesCenter.org or (949) 660-7793 x107
Register today! Go to our Gift Shop at www.ChuckJonesCenter.orghttp://shop.chuckjonescenter.org/products/7-27-30-creativity-camp-animals-have-feelings-too
We Get Mail: The History of Animation with Linda Jones Clough
Chuck's daughter and Emmy Award-winning producer, Linda Jones Clough, was in New York this past weekend for the 25th anniversary performances of George Daugherty's "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony".While in the lobby of Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity's information kiosk, she met an animation student, Gabe Schleifer. Gabe sent us this email this morning:
"Hello, this email is for Linda Jones. My name is Gabriel Schleifer, I'm a 3rd year animation student at The School of Visual Arts. She and I met at Lincoln Center a few days ago during the Bugs Bunny at the Symphony concert where she and her granddaughter were promoting the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.
"I just wanted to let you know that I had a great time chatting with you about your father and about the foundation, not to mention all of the talented artists who are already helping. It's wonderful to be able to speak to someone who is, in some way or another, a part of the history of this extraordinary art form and is making sure the revolutions of it's pioneers lives on.
"Here are a couple of photos taken from the event. I plan to stay in touch with this organization."
Thanks again! Gabe Schleifer
Irvine Classical Players Perform "Peter and the Wolf" at Chuck Jones Center for Creativity!
BUY TICKETS HERE!Please join the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Emmy Award-winning, “Peter and the Wolf”. Enjoy an evening’s recital with the Irvine Classical Players and the Seraphim Symphony in this fundraising benefit for the Center and these fine Orange County musicians. All proceeds will benefit the non-profits. This musical evening will take place Friday, May 29, from 7 to 9 PM at the Center, 3321 Hyland Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Tickets are available by clicking on this sentence.
“Peter and the Wolf” was originally commissioned in 1936 by the Central Children’s Theater in Moscow with the intent to engage young people at an early age with a love of classical music; Prokofiev finished the work in just four days. In 1995 Chuck’s character designs became the basis for an live action/animated TV special written, produced, and directed by George Daugherty, that starred Lloyd Bridges and Kirstie Alley. It won an Emmy the following year for best children’s television special.
The Center is pleased to partner with Irvine Classical Players and Seraphim Symphony to bring you this selection of music from this musical masterpiece. Please join us!
Tickets are available by clicking on this sentence.
The 5th Annual Red Dot Auction: the Photos!
The 5th Annual Red Dot Auction was held on two nights this year. A private preview cocktail party for donors, friends, supporters, and artists was held Thursday evening, April 30. On May 1st, the Red Dot Auction was open to the public and what a great turnout both nights! There was a lot of interest in the amazing art donated by over 225 artists this year! Huzzah! Much flurried bidding took place, Red Dots were flying, cowbells were ringing, glasses were tinkling, raffle prizes were drawn, and one lucky soul was the winning bidder at the live auction of an afternoon with Disney artist extraordinair, Mike Peraza, at his home studio where he'll get to see Peraza's astounding collection of animation collectibles and have a private lesson on how to draw your favorite Chuck Jones cartoon character! Woo hoo!The question on everyone's lips, of course, was, "What artist's work will you go home with tonight?" By the end of the evening there were nearly two hundred answers! Thank you to the marvelous artists without whose generous donation of their time, talent, and creativity this event would not exist. And a special thank you to all of the Center's supporters, we appreciate you!
Photos courtesy Stephen Russo.