Red Dot Auction VIII--Call for Artists!

Dear Artists and Friends of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity,Preparations are underway for the Eighth Annual Red Dot Auction benefiting the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, scheduled for Friday, May 11, 2018.

Today we’re writing to ask you to donate a work of art to this year’s Red Dot Auction.  We’re changing up the overall theme from the Life & Times of Chuck Jones to his Golden Age Decade, the 1950s. Any of the over 90 cartoons Chuck Jones directed during the years 1950 – 1959 are fodder for your imagination. A list of the cartoons is available online at the link at the bottom of this post.  

There will be five categories this year:

Landscape – predominant theme in landscape, seascape, urban-scape; may include cartoon character(s)

Portrait – may be a self-portrait or the portrait of another person or cartoon character

Homage – to an art genre, specific artist, or live action film

Assemblage – collage using unconventional materials—take something and make something new out of it or its parts

3D – we’ll provide an 8” 3D “Cre8ive Peeple” (see below) to be painted and enhanced as you envision

There are only 30 spaces available in each of the five different sections, all requests for a specific section will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Go to this webpage to submit your request: Red Dot Auction 2018. 

The canvas provided for the first four sections will be a 12” square and as last year, we ask that you sign the artwork on the reverse.  For the 3D object, please sign the bottom of the object. HOWEVER, new this year, you may choose to work in any size canvas or other substrate you'd like to provide yourself. 

You may prefer to work on paper or another substrate and that’s fine, as long as we can mount it to the 12” square canvas for presentation the night of the event. The artwork should be signed on the reverse so that bidders at this silent auction will not know who has created which work of art.

Won't you share your gifts with us and with the Center's supporters and patrons?  If you will, please submit your information and section request by clicking here. 

Canvases are due back no later than Monday, March 27, 2018! Again this year we will bring the Red Dot Auction online for pre-bidding only. This online auction will go live mid-April 2018 and end the evening of Tuesday, May 8, 2018 In order to be included in it, your artwork must arrive no later than March 27, 2018.  

And again this year a commemorative poster, similar to the one shown, will be printed; 30 canvases will be selected to represent this year’s Red Dot Auction. Two of the posters will be produced and sold the evening of the event. To be considered for inclusion, your artwork must arrive no later than March 15, 2017.

Thank you in advance for your generosity, time, and commitment to the vision of the Center.

Exercise Your Genius!

All the best, Robert

Robert@ChuckJonesCenter.org

Chuck Jones Filmography by year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Jones_filmography.

Submit your section and substrate requests here, Red Dot Auction 2018.

Are You "All In"?

The 1st OCCASIONAL FUNDRAISING POKER TOURNAMENTBenefiting the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

Costa Mesa, CA: Join the Center for Creativity for an evening of poker with optional “Play-In” opportunities on Monday, June 19th from 6 to 11 PM (ish).  This is a poker tournament fundraiser with the opportunity to increase your initial chip stack by competing in optional play-in game tournaments.

Play-in games begin at 6 PM and end at 7:45 PM; poker tournament begins at 8 PM. There are three Play-in tournaments and are intended to be double elimination: Ping-Pong, Darts, and Cornhole (timing and expectations of all Play-in tournaments shall be subject to change.)

Win prizes! The final table winners will all win prizes! 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will choose from: 3 Angels tickets to Angels vs. Boston on July 23, 2017, a $180 value; Signed, hand-painted Chuck Jones cel art edition, “All In”, framed, value: a lot!; XS Scuba Gift Package; SoCo Restaurant Gift Cards; Home Cotton Candy Machine as well as other prizes.

Buy-ins are: Poker $100 for 1000 chips; Re-buys $40 (1000 chips); Play-in Games for $40 each game (200 chips each game guaranteed); All 3 Play-in Games for $100. Play-in Games First Place winner receives an additional 1000 chips; 2nd place 500 chips, and 3rd place 250 chips.

The evening includes food and beverages, poker prizes, bragging rights, participation in raffles for more prizes! Transportation by Uber recommended. Registration is limited to 32 players. Register at www.CharityAuction.bid/CJCCPOKER, and registrations closes Friday, June 16. The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Avenue, Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. ChuckJonesCenter.org.

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.)

Path of Pilgrimage, An Exhibition of Paintings by Joshua Smith

THE PATH OF PILGRIMAGENew Works by Joshua Smith

An Inspire Exhibition at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

Opens October 13th

Costa Mesa, CA, September 1, 2015: Artists are often asked where their inspiration comes from; when Orange County artist, Joshua Smith, is asked that question he is quick to respond that he relies on his dreams and his faith for inspiration. Working in a vortex of color and often on over twenty varying sizes of canvas at a time, Smith, not unlike the dreams he credits with inspiring his work, paints in a fever of remembrance, memory, mysticism, and metaphor.  

“I take my visual clues from architecture and from religion, allowing my paintings to be a reflection of art and of my faith,” says Smith, “and like a small child, I fanaticize my surroundings, the sky’s the limit.” A technically proficient oil painter, Smith, with his Masters in fine art from Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, approaches his work like a metaphysical journey through some unknown reality; he believes in the omnipotence of the dream, the fantasy.

With his emphasis on landscape, his colors lay one on top of the other in a powdery mist of memory; chairs, paths, trees, butterflies, nests, and small home-like structures stand in lonely isolation, but still he imbues each canvas with the emotion of hope and of home. The paintings’ dense, fragile surfaces and areas of multi-chromatic richness recall ancient wall frescos. 

“The Center is thrilled to present this Inspire Exhibition of work by the artist, Joshua Smith,” says Craig Kausen, chairman of the board and Chuck Jones’s grandson. “His work, like that of other great artists, inspires each of us to view our world a little differently, with faith and hope; and, perhaps, to question our responsibility to the world around us.”

Opening night reception for the artist is Tuesday, October 13 from 7 to 9 PM at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Ave., Suite A, in Costa Mesa at the South Coast Collection (SoCo). The reception is free and open to the public. The exhibit will close on November 30. A portion of proceeds benefit the programs of the Center, a 501(c)3 public charity.

A graduate of the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford (Connecticut) with a Masters in painting, Smith received his undergraduate degree at the Laguna College of Art & Design.  He has participated in over 30 group exhibitions and more than 25 solo exhibitions in the past 10 years. Awarded the prestigious Best New SOLO Artist at the New York International Art Expo in 2007, Smith recently exhibited at the Carousel du Louvre with the Socièté Nationale des Beaux. He has been involved in numerous projects with The Guildford Handcraft Center, taught as adjunct professor at the Hartford Art School and has been exhibition curator at the Nathan J Gallery, Farmington, Ct. Currently, he lives in Orange County with his wife and two children.

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 are making Monster Bookmarks!

Join us at Drop in and Draw tomorrow (Saturday May 23rd) at the center! We will be making these fun monster bookmarks that slide on the corner of your page as well as having drawing, coloring, tracing on light tables, and an animation station! This event is open to all ages and free :) Stop by anytime from 9:30am to 12:30pm. What better to way to spend your Saturday morning than doing art!

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.

Creativity Camp ~ Thanksgiving Week!

Join us for a Creativity Camp the week of Thanksgiving. We’ve designed a 3-day camp to give kids an array of endeavors such as painting, drawing and music. Yes, the whole gamut of creative adventure!

Construct a GIANT-sized turkey!

Paint a “Thanks”-giving mural with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other Looney Tunes characters.

Make one-of-a-kind holiday ornaments.

Get creative with cranberries! Invite your family for Camp on Wednesday (11/26)! Call to find out more information!

Dates: November 24, 25, and 26, 2014

Time: 9:00am to 1:00pm

Ages: 7-12 years old

Location: 3321 Hyland Ave, Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Pricing: $100 for 3 days*, $40 daily rate*

*Sibling Pricing: $75 for 3 days, $30 daily rate

Register today! Click here!

Call for more information! Programs@ChuckJonesCenter.org (949) 660-7793 x107

Other details: Drop off by 9am, pick up at 1:00pm. No early morning or late afternoon childcare will be provided. Bring a snack, water and lunch. You can purchase lunch from Greenleaf Chopshop (neighbor to CJCC). Place your order at the time of drop off with payment. Dress for a mess!

Sangria and Sceneries - Thursday, March 13 at 7pm!

Join us for Sangria and Sceneries, the next class in our Palate and Palettes series!

SANGRIA AND SCENERIES on Thursday, March 13 at 7pm

Learn to paint a landscape using the colors of the rainbow. When you complete your masterpiece, you'll have a canvas with the perfect view!

Thursday, March 13

7:00pm to 9:00pm

You bring your wine and snacks, and we provide the materials and canvas!

Where: Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Ave, Ste A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Fees:

1 Artist=$30.00

2 Artists=$40.00

Register today! Click here!

Questions: Sasha Advani, (949) 660-7793 x20107 or Sasha@ChuckJonesCenter.org

Girl Scout Programs at The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity in Costa Mesa, Ca

Check out our Girl Scout Programs for Junior and Cadettes! We can also host an Art Program for all age groups! 

All classes held at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland, Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. 

More information can be found at the websites listed within this email. Or emailsasha@chuckjonescenter.org or call (949) 660-7793 x20107. If you have 6 or more girls in a Troop (or combine Troops), we can schedule a weekday afterschool session. Please inquire within.

Click here for pricing and scheduling for our Junior programs

Click here for pricing and scheduling for our Cadette programs

CADETTE BOOK ARTIST BADGE

For centuries, humans have been developing methods to create and bind paper in order to share ideas, knowledge, and inspirations with each other and with future generations.  The craft of creating books has evolved over time, but the basic human need to share words and pictures has stayed the same.  For this badge, you will try gluing, stitching, and folding your way to shaping your own book artistry style – you’ll create some spectacular gifts and keepsakes.

In this class you’ll:

-Explore the art of bookbinding

-Get familiar with the insides of a book

-Try out book artist techniques

-Focus on function

-Focus on style

CADETTE COMIC ARTIST BADGE

Newspaper cartoons, comic books, graphic novels...comic art is a broad, exciting, and growing field. In this badge, you'll explore the world of visual story telling from career choices to drawing techniques!

Earn your Comic Artist badge in five simple and fun steps:

-Delve into the world of comics 

-Choice a story to tell 

-Draw it out 

-Frame it in four panels  

-Add the words  

JUNIOR DRAWING BADGE

When you pick up your pencil, anything could leap from your mind onto a sheet of paper. That’s what makes drawing so fun. In this class we’ll show you different techniques to make your drawings even better.

You will:

-Experiment with different materials

-Learn how to shade

-Put some perspective in your pictures

-Make a portfolio

Drop Off & Dine - 10/12/13

Join us for our next Drop Off and Dine! Saturday, October 12 at 5:30-8:30pm

Enjoy dinner without the kids, but have them nearby! "Drop Off" your children at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity and "Dine" at one of the restaurants at SoCo or the The OC Mix. Your kids will participate in various creative activities with the inspiration of Chuck Jones's animation, film, and fine art.

-Ages 4+ (must be potty-trained)

-Introductory Prices: 1 Child=$30.00, 2 Children=$35.00, 3 Children=$40.00

-They have to be your children, no piggybacks allowed!

-Parents must stay within SoCo or The OC Mix premises

-Parent will sign-in & sign-out each child and provide a cell phone number

-Dinner for children can be purchased or bring it from home

-Must register 48 hours in advance. If the program doesn't meet the minimum required, you will be given a full refund.

-Minimum 3 registered families required, otherwise program will be rescheduled

-When registering, include your child or children's names and ages in the comment box upon check out. 

Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

3321 Hyland, Suite A

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

REGISTER TODAY! CLICK HERE

Questions: Sasha Advani (949) 660-7793 x107 or Sasha@ChuckJonesCenter.org

Call for Artists to Participate in the 3rd Annual Red Dot Auction

Dear Artists and Friends of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, Preparations are underway for the Third Annual Red Dot Auction benefiting the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity scheduled for May 11, 2013. As you are aware, creativity in our schools and in our national conversation is always the first thing to be eliminated or casually dismissed as unimportant. In fact, it is creativity that opens the minds and hearts of all who allow it to, it brings greater freedom to their lives. It enhances one's ability to solve problems and it opens minds to the differences that make each of us unique, erasing prejudices and bigotry. Creativity makes the world a better place.

Today I’m writing to ask you to donate a work of art to this year’s Red Dot Auction, to be held on Saturday, May 11th from 6 to 9 PM at the Center in Costa Mesa, California.  Again this year the canvas is 12” square and as last year, we ask that you sign the artwork on the reverse.  You may prefer to work on paper or another substrate and that’s fine as long as we can mount it to the 12” square canvas for presentation the night of the event. 

For those of you who may be unaware of the Red Dot Auction and how it works (or may have forgotten), here are the details: each artist contributes a work of art that is either painted on the canvas we provide you or creates a work of art that can be mounted to the canvas for display the evening of the auction.  The artwork should be signed on the reverse so that bidders at this silent auction will not know who has created which painting—although savvy collectors may be aware of your particular style and will jealously guard their bids, hoping to land a work by ______ or ____ ______.  

We are still in the midst of the Chuck Jones Centennial year and we'd like to carry over the suggested theme from last year from which to draw your inspiration: the life and times of Chuck Jones. That should not limit you to cartoon-related imagery, although many of the most sought after works at last year’s event were inspired by his Looney Tunes creations; you might be inspired by his love of travel, his admiration for the work of Mark Twain or the fact that he never had one cavity his entire life (true!) 

Whatever you choose to do, of course, is up to you; it is your participation that is most important to us. 

Won't you share your gifts with us and with the Center's members and patrons?  If you will, please drop me a note with your mailing address and I’ll get a canvas out to you.  What’s that you say?  You’d like to contribute two works?  No problem!  Just let me know and I’ll send you two canvases.  Have an artist friend who would like to be a part of this exciting project?  Please send them my way.  Canvases are due back here no later than April 19th. Write to me at rpatrick@chuckjonescenter.org. 

Thank you in advance for your generosity, time, and commitment to re-invigorating the creative spirit in all of us.  

All the best, Robert

Girls Scout Troops 549 and 26 earned their Junior Drawing Badge at the Center!

Girl Scout Troops 549 and 26 earned their Junior Drawing Badge at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity on Sunday, January 27. Fourteen enthusiastic Girl Scouts were ready to draw from the inspirations of Chuck Jones. During the 2-hour class, they

Experimented with different materials, such as light and hard charcoal, and Palomino Blackwing pencils

Learned how to add shading their drawings

Learned how to draw with perspective

Used their imagination like a graphic artist

Created and took home a portfolio of their days' work

We thank our Teaching Artists, Jennifer "Jejo" Sleeper and Deborah "Debbie" Sleeper, for leading the class with grace and wit!

Are you interested in earning your Drawing Badge at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity? Contact Sasha Advani at Sasha@ChuckJonesCenter.org or (949) 660-7793 x107 today!

The OC Mix Family Fair

The OC Mart Mix is hosting their monthly Family Fair Day every 3rd Saturday of every month. The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity will be participating by hosting different "Creative Stations" to give you a feel of what the Center has to offer! www.southcoastcollection.com

9:30a-3:00p, 3rd Saturday of Every Month

The OC Mart Mix....The home of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity!

3321 Hyland

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Learn the style of Chuck Jones' "classic" animation from Doug Lothers, Teaching Artist

Learn drawing techniques and style from Tommy "TNEZ" Martinez, Creative Director and Owner of Planet TNEZ

Artables with Gina Latora -- Children can create art with string, paper, glue, cotton or whatever else Gina can think of!

Learn basic techniques of pastels with Chris Scardino, our Resident Teaching Artist

...And as always, we'll have our Drop In and Draw supplies! Our volunteers will help you think of ways of how to be creative--and we'll provide the supplies!

Everyone is welcome! Stop by and see what the Center has to offer!

Donations accepted for materials used

Questions? Contact Sasha Advani (949) 660-7793 x20107 or Sasha@ChuckJonesCenter.org

New Art Class For Kids Begins January 9!

Artables--At the Center with Gina LatoraIt begins with glue and goes from there. There will be painting -- not always with a brush -- your child will be surprised at the 'tools' that are used as well as the 'paint'. Adult attendance is required; please wear your painting attire!

Cost per 5-week session: $50.00 per artist, plus a $15 (cash, due at first class) material fee. Ages 1 to 12 years old welcome. These are great classes for the whole family.

Classes begin January 9, 2013. Three different sessions to choose from!

10:45-11:45A   1/9/13 -2/6/13*

12:30-1:30P     1/9/13 -2/6/13*

1:45-2:45P       1/9/13 -2/6/13*

*If a class needs to be rescheduled (due to CJCC scheduling) during the session, the make up date will be 2/13/13

Gina Latora, artist and educator, has been providing art classes for children and preschoolers in Orange and Los Angeles Counties for over seventeen years. Her "Artables" class is particularly well-suited for preschoolers, and will also captivate children of all ages. The earlier a child begins to discover the world of art, the earlier they develop self-confidence and are able to articulate visually their own ideas. Email: artablesofginalatora@gmail.com

Classes held at:

Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

3321 Hyland Ave

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Register at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, Call Sasha Advani to register your budding artists today! 949-660-7793 x107 or email: Sasha@ChuckJonesCenter.org

"Simpsons" Storyboard Artist Stephen Reis at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

Writing from Costa Mesa: This reporter was fortunate enough to witness "Simpsons" storyboard artist, Stephen Reis (center in photo below) in action this past Saturday, November 3rd, at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity during their "Great, Grand Chuck Jones Family Happening!" With a sharp pencil in each hand (many thanks to Pencils.com for the gift of Chuck Jones's preferred drawing instrument, the Blackwing 602, which all of those in attendance were able to use), Reis wowed those lucky aspirants with his dexterity and command of character design.  Over a three-hour period, over 30 students of animation, both young and old alike, learned from one of the most creative storyboard and character design artists working in animation today. By the end of the session and because of his guidance and nurturing manner each student had produced a group of characters from "The Simpsons". Smiles all around!

Everyone at the Center extends a heartfelt thank you to Stephen and we look forward to his return in the future!