Potluck: Chicago went to En Las Tablas yesterday to make sock puppets with the kids. It was a lot of fun. I wasn't able to go to En Las Tablas last time since we had to split up so I was really excited to get another chance. We brought in new and fairly worn socks and the kids were able to pick out the ones they wanted...one for the body and one for the mouth. The socks where suppose to be avatars of themselves. I was in charge of sewing the mouth and body together. Then they went to another station to have hair and eyes sewn on. Afterwards they were able to decorate the puppets. We then interviewed them with their puppet and asked them questions like "What super power do you bring to Chicago?"
En Las Tablas Performing Arts Center is an amazing place where kids can take dance classes. They offer classes to residents of Hermosa, West Logan Square, and West Humboldt Park. The classes are inexpensive and no child is turned away if a parent can't pay. Where these kids live, there isn't anything else like En Las Tablas for them. I took dance classes as a child for 7 years and it gave me confidence in myself. I could see these kids really felt safe at En Las Tablas and they were all so outgoing!
It made me think about how I could use art to benefit others and not just myself. I am so thankful I have gotten involved in Potluck: Chicago. Before this residency I was very confused about what I would do with my artwork. Now I am realizing there are so many possibilities and my art doesn't always have to be visual installations, it can be more than that, like En Las Tablas. Right now, I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing in the future but I know I will figure it out as long as I keep working at what I love, farming, artwork, and cooking. I will find a way to bring the three together.
This is Alejandra. She wanted her puppet to have glasses just like herself so she needed three buttons on top of each other. The first button was the frame of the glasses, the next one was her eyes, and the third was the glass from her glasses...very creative idea! David quickly realized he could not do this so he asked me to take over. Woo...it took a lot of thinking and help from parents to figure this one out but I did it and she loved it.
Here is Meg with a puppet she made herself. He was so cute!
A puppet Helen made that I fell in love with so I kept on wearing him. He's so adorable.
Johnny wanted a picture of his Angry Bird Johnny puppet. :0 ) He really liked Angry Bird as you can see from his sweater...so I had to look them up when I got home. It looks like the Angry Birds are constantly trying to get their eggs back from the hungry pigs. Here is a little video.
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