Grad Gift Ideas for Arts Majors
With many 2012 grads throwing up their caps in celebration of the end of highschool, many family and friends want to celebrate and honor their grad with gift giving. Incoming arts majors are often required to purchase many unusual supplies for their classes that can be given as very creative and useful gifts by their loved ones. Here is a list of possible gifts to give to graduating loved ones. Click on the links to explore product ideas.
MUSIC:
- Keyboard/digital piano
- Recording device
- iTunes gift card to purchase apps or music
- Gift certificate to online sheet music website
- Personalized tote bag for sheet music books and instrument supplies
- Engraved drumsticks, a new guitar pick, rosin, or new reeds depending on instrument needs
THEATRE:
- Stage makeup kit: (Professors usually suggest a certain brand.)
- Audition outfit:
- Girls: Wrap dress (long sleeve, knee length) or other timeless style to portray any kind of character.
- Guys: button up shirt and pants in classic colors.
- Headshot photo package- Hint: Renee Rocket photography has some great packages.
- Monologues for Young Actors and/or Shakespeare’s First Folio to use for auditions
- Netflix Instant Watch: To view The Seagull by Anton Chekhov or other classic plays
VISUAL ART:
- Art supply tackle box: Like an Art Bin
- Portfolio with a carrying strap and pockets.
- Media: pencil and/or charcoal set
- Art papers: sketch books, watercolor pads, tracing paper, Bristol board pad
- Tote or bag to carry art supplies
DANCE:
VA Friday – Everlasting Flower for Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is coming soon! (May 13)
Show that Mom of yours that you love her by giving an Everlasting Flower! What is that? A beautiful painting of a flower. Follow these steps to create a painting fit for giving, and don’t forget you only have a little over a week to complete it! Check out our Pinterest Board for more Visual Arts ideas.
Lesson: Flower from a Bee’s Perspective
Supplies: White paper (watercolor preferred); sketch paper (a plain piece of 8.5×11 printer paper will work fine); index card or half of an old greeting card; oil pastels or crayons; water color paints (Colorations – Liquid Water Paints or Prang oval set are great!); Pencil; brush; paper towels
Directions:
1. Start by finding a silk flower or a real flower that you can observe.
2. Pretend you are a bee, and look at the flower REALLY, REALLY close. Create a sketch on some scrap paper with pencil.
3. Create a view finder by using an index card or half of an old greeting 
card and cut the center out to create a little frame. Place the view finder over your sketch and frame a pleasing part of your drawing. Re-draw the cropped part (the image inside the frame) on your final nice white paper.
4. Trace your pencil lines with oil pastels or crayons. The wax/oil will resist the watercolor to create a beautiful colorful outline effect.
5. Paint your flower with watercolor.
Gabrielle,
Co-Editor
Visual Arts
How it all began…
In the year 2000, an individual benefactor approached Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) with a vision: to revive arts education in local public schools. Starting Arts was created to make this vision a reality. Over the past eleven years Starting Arts has far exceeded expectations. Our organization has gone from piloting classes at a single elementary school, to running visual and performing arts programs at fifty-two schools in eleven Bay Area school districts, including: Cambrian, Evergreen, Los Altos, Moreland, San Jose Unified, Santa Clara Unified, Saratoga, Sunnyvale, Fremont and Willow Glen.
Please enjoy some photos from some of Starting Arts’ first few years.
How did your kids spend Spring Break?
At Starting Arts we understand that for some parents the week of Spring Break can be a little challenging. What are my kids going to do for an entire week while I still have to go to work? Some lucky parents have babysitters extraordinaire, but for those who don’t…there are only so many episodes of Phineas and Ferb. The kids take a break from school, but that doesn’t mean they have to take a break from learning and being active.
For the 2011-2012 school year, Starting Arts decided to host camps during all of the school breaks. We call it Arts Escape. These camps challenge kids to be creative and try new things. Kids participate in all 4 arts disciplines each day. They get to try their hand at music, dance, theater, and visual art.
This week is the first of two Arts Escape Spring Break Camps (different school districts have different weeks scheduled for Spring Break and we didn’t want to leave anyone out). Although it has been a rainy week, the kids are doing all kinds of spring themed activities. The kids are having a blast, but don’t just take my word for it…
Michelle,
SA Office Manager
VA Friday – Space Bugs
For Ages 3 and up!
Parents, here’s a great one for you! This art project is one of my favorites because it is open-ended, doesn’t require fancy art materials, and your kids can make one or twenty. This project can also be revisited time after time.
Instructions:
1. Gather foil, pipe cleaners, silly eyes, beads, pom poms and plastic “trash”. I have used glad ware containers, heat shaped shrink packaging, and lids of many kinds. Buttons and wire will work as well, in case you haven’t been to a craft store in a while.
2. Tear off short pieces of foil, about 6×12 inches and loosely crumple.
3. Poke pipe cleaners all the way through the bug’s body and once in place, scrunch foil more to secure.
4. Sharp, pointed plastic can be poked in to the foil and secured with hot glue (by adult).
5. Plastic can me embellished with colored permanent markers.
6. ENJOY your new collection of bugs!
Gabrielle,
Co-Editor
Visual Arts
Bugs made during Springtastic Spring Break Camp, April 9, 2012.
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