ART RESIDENCIES AND WORKSHOPS
mental health in school is cool!
Did you know: 1 in 4 teens struggle with mental health (NAMI)? Feelings are a HUGE part of our daily life, yet we rarely talk about them. I’m on a mission to de-stigmatize mental health by making emotional learning accessible and fun for kids K-12!
Check out my art residencies and workshops through COMPAS below!
Art residencies (5 days; 225 min)
Feelings Safari: Exploring Our Emotions Through Art (Grades: K-2)
In this 5-day residency, students will learn how to identify and name a variety of emotions, explore colors and shapes to communicate feelings, create original character drawings, practice simple strategies for managing challenging emotions, and develop confidence in expressing themselves through art.
My Emotion Creature: A Drawing and Emotional Learning Residency (Grades: 4-8)
In this 5-day residency, students will create their own character that they’ll follow through an emotional journey. Each day builds on the artwork from the previous day while introducing new drawing and emotional-learning concepts, time for reflections and group sharing.
Teens & Zines: A Comics-Making Residency (Grades 4-8)
In this 5-day residency, students will understand the basic elements of comic storytelling, create an original comic character and premise, and turn sketches into a complete 8-page mini zine to take home! We’ll also have the opportunity to share work and reflect on the creative process.
Bring Your Ideas to Life: Animation 101 Residency (Grades: 9-12)
In this 5-day residency, students will learn how to draw and animate on the Procreate app, including how to use various brush tools, create layers, apply animation looping effects, and more! The end result will be the completion of their own GIF sticker they can text to friends and post on social media.
All art residencies and workshops are booked through COMPAS.
WORKSHOPS (1 day; 45-60 min)
Drawing From Within: Turning Our Emotions into Characters (Grades 4-12)
In this workshop, participants are guided through a gentle mindfulness exercise focused on breathing, self-awareness and reflection. Once we’re grounded in the space, everyone will receive a fun activity sheet to doodle and create an original character based on their own emotions. The workshop will end with a round of show and tell - encouraging conversation helps normalize and destigmatize mental health.
Teens and Zines: Introduction to Creating Comics (Grades 5-12)
In this hands-on workshop, teens will learn the basics of visual storytelling and comic-making while creating their own 8-page mini-zine. Participants will explore panels, speech bubbles, captions, sound effects, character expressions, and pacing. Then, they’ll develop a short story through quick sketches and thumbnails before creating their finished comic.
Exquisite Corpse: The Art of Collaborative Storytelling (Grades 4-12)
In this collaborative comic-making workshop, participants will use the Exquisite Corpse technique to create characters and stories together. Participants will work in groups of 4-5 to turn random scribbles into imaginative monsters that will become the protagonists of their comics. By the end, everyone will have a collection of surreal characters and wacky, unpredictable tales to share with the group.
Building Worlds and Characters for Children Stories (Grades 9-12)
In this workshop, participants will explore the creative process of developing original characters and settings for their own children’s book. Through a series of playful drawing and storytelling activities, they’ll experiment with shapes and shadows, learn how to beat art block, and uncover some of the secrets behind the most recognizable characters in the world - all while laying the foundation for their next epic story!
Where Did Anxiety Go? Read Aloud + Drawing Sesh (Grades K-3)
Join Rocky for a fun, interactive reading and drawing workshop based on his book, Where Did Anxiety Go? – a playful rhyming picture book that helps children understand anxiety as a feeling that comes and goes, rather than something they need to be afraid of. After the read-aloud, kids will grab their pencils and follow along a live drawing demonstration to learn how to draw Twitch, Anxiety and other featured characters.
What’s That Feeling? (Pop-up) (All Ages)
In this playful and interactive drawing game, participants will draw a series of fun and highly expressive characters alongside Rocky. Each character represents a feeling, but which one is it? Could it be joy? Or maybe it’s courage? What do you think it looks like?
Mindful Coloring Station (Pop-up) (All Ages)
Having a coloring station at events can be helpful for those who get overwhelmed by loud music and stimuli. Kids and their families can take a moment to sit and enjoy the meditative practice of coloring. All pages include wholesome characters and uplifting messages and affirmations.
All art residencies and workshops are booked through COMPAS.