Family Events
Animate by Hand! Direct-on-Film Animation Workshop
This workshop will offer participants of all ages a chance to create animation by working directly on strips of film. Scratch, draw, punch holes, paint – we’ll do it all while working directly on the film’s surface. Direct–on-film animation is one of the most fun, inexpensive, and satisfying ways to work with film - and it gives you a chance to work with old-school celluloid. We will screen example films, discuss various tools and materials that can be used in this process, and then turn participants loose to create their own short manipulated films. 16mm film and materials will be provided.
Presenters: Jennifer Proctor and Margo Greenlaw
Date: Friday, May 15
Place: CNM 120
Time: 9 – 10:30 am
Cost: EC, FP, WK
Portraits: Drop-In Workshop
Participants create a short, 10-drawing animated cycle depicting something about themselves. The drawings will be captured under a camera set in the same room, and at the end of the day the compilation of portraits will be output to video.
Presenter: Madi Piller
Date: Friday, May 15
Place: CNM 120
Time: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Cost: FREE!
Animated Buddies: A Century of Cartoon Friendships
Everyone needs a friend, and animated characters are no exception, whether drawn, cut out, a puppet, or on the computer. This program highlights cartoons with a theme of friendship, from early cartoons through modern favorites, including Rocky and Bullwinkle, Mutt and Jeff, Tom and Jerry, Sponge Bob, and many others.
Presenter: Steve Stanchfield
Date: Saturday, May 16
Place: Stryker Theater
Time: 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Cost: Free
Flip-Book Bonanza
Looking for even more ways to let the kids explore their artistic side? Why not let them create their own mini-movie flip-book souvenir! Participants draw images on each page of the book and, when flipped through, it creates the illusion of motion. Another throwback to the earliest days of animation, and another chance to let the entire family experience the fun of KAFI!
Presenter: n/a
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Place: MUS
Cost: FREE!
Mile of Art
What does it take to unleash the creative genius in you? If you’re inspired by a never-ending roll of paper, a supply of markers and the chance to have your drawing seen by hundreds, come join other visionaries in creating this Mile of Art. Whether you have the talent of Rembrandt, the vision of Picasso, the imagination of Chuck Jones, or your stick figure cow is mistaken for a house, you’ll love being a part in this one-of-a-kind event. The finished masterpiece will be displayed at Kalamazoo Community College’s Center for New Media Arcus Gallery Windows.
Presenter: n/a
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Place: MUS
Cost: FREE!
Thaumatropes Gone Wild!
Maybe the digital age isn’t for you – maybe you’d like to see the way animation was done before computers took over the world. Go back in time to 1826 to build your own thaumatrope, an optical toy that was the very beginning of animation. A thaumatrope consists of a disc that is attached to two pieces of string and, when twirled, the images on the sides of the disc are animated. This hands-on workshop is loads of fun for the entire family – parents, children, grandparents, and students!
Presenter: n/a
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Place: MUS
Cost: FREE!
Bruno & Company
Balloon animals and tattoos for kids of all ages!
Presenter: n/a
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Place: MUS
Cost: FREE!
Lobo the Hobo
Face painting and balloon art for family fun!
Presenter: n/a
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Place: MUS
Cost: FREE!
Kenjji
An award-winning illustrator with 15 years of professional experience and a unique and versatile style will do childrens' caricatures.
Presenter: n/a
Date: Saturday, May 16
Time: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Place: MUS
Cost: $5 - $10
Jump to Japan: Discovering Culture Through Popular Art
Discover Japanese culture through their popular art of manga (comics), anime (animation), and woodblock prints. This hands-on exhibit features environments and activities that present a broad depiction of Japan – traditional and contemporary, urban and rural, past and present, fantastic and realistic. Hop on the Magical Cat Bus from Hayao Miyazaki’s film My Neighbor Totoro. Be a shopkeeper or customer in a modern manga store and create a manga drawing. Step into a traditional tatami room for a tea part, try on a kimono, or play the ancient card game karuta. Operate an oversize animation viewer or spin a giant zoetrope to see moving images of characters from Hamtaro and Pokemon. Create Japanese animation at art-making stations using popular characters and images. This exhibit will give students from ages 5 – 12 a sense of the complexity of Japanese culture and its contemporary urban hustle and bustle.
Presented by the Freeman Foundation Asian Exhibit Initiative. Administered by the Association of Children’s Museums. Created by Minnesota Children’s Museum and The Children’s Museum, Seattle, in partnership with the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka City, Japan.
Presenter: n/a
Date: Thursday, May 14 – Sunday, May 17
Time: Thursday – Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday, 1 – 5 pm
Place: Kalamazoo Valley Museum
Cost: FREE!
Inhabitants: Installation Art
An abstract exploration of influences which consciously, unconsciously, purposely, or accidentally act upon our lives.
Presenter: Bonnie Mitchell and Elainie Lillios
Date: Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17
Time: 11 am – 5:00 pm Saturday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Sunday
Place: CNM 65
Cost: FREE!
Portraits: Installation Art
In the gallery, scattered images drawn by animators will be pinned to the wall. The arrangement of the drawings will guide the viewer to a peeping wooden box containing the animated images inside, connecting the spectator in a more intimate mode to the artist’s work.
A selection of stills from Sharon Katz's new film in competition, Profile, will also be on display in the Portraits installation area.
Presenter: Madi Piller
Date: Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17
Time: 11 am – 5:00 pm Saturday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Sunday
Place: CNM 70
Cost: FREE!
New Directions at PBS Kids
This session will look at PBS Kids' new directions in innovative children's programming and will feature clips of new episodes and series, including The Electric Company, never-aired footage of Sid the Science Kid, the new series Dinosaur Train (which will premiere in September 2009) and a new animated series from the Kratt Brothers. The discussion and screening will cover how new series get made, and how each innovative series pushes the medium of educational television forward.
Presenter: Linda Simensky
Date: Saturday, May 16
Place: Stryker Theater
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Cost: EC, FP, TK
Deconstructing “Kalamazoo!”
Jennifer Oxley will use highlight clips and visuals to discuss every step used to create a Wonder Pets episode entitled “Kalamazoo!” These will include the processes for writing, researching, creating music, casting, directing, storyboarding, designing, blocking, and animating the series. Followed by a book signing.
Presenter: Jennifer Oxley
Date: Saturday, May 16
Place: Stryker Theater
Time: 9 – 10:30 am
Cost: EC, FP, TK
Wonder Pets Book Signing - Jennifer Oxley
Meet author/illustrator Jennifer Oxley of Little Airplane Productions and the Nick Jr. series The Wonder Pets. Her books Flyboat Adventures, Let's Count Baby Animals, and Let's Find Colors will be available for purchase and will be signed by the author.
Presenter: Jennifer Oxley
Date: Saturday, May 16
Place: World Works Room, Museum
Time: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Cost: Purchase Book
The Animated Bestiary
Animals abound in animation, dating to the earliest primitive efforts at the Edison Studios and the line drawings of Emile Cohl. This program charts the evolution of entertaining quadrapeds from the silent years of animation to the "golden era" of the 1930s.
Before Tom chased Jerry, there was Felix. Before Bugs, there was Oswald. Aesop used animals in his fables, and animators quickly learned to incorporate them into their storylines. Evolution grew from necessity, with details often being stripped to the barest of essentials. In addition, before sound, these characters had to pantomime with the best of the era's silent comedians.
This program will examine how nearly a dozen animals have transformed from the earliest primitive sketches to fully-realized characters with definite personality.
Presenter: Jim Middleton
Date: Sunday, May 17
Place: CNM 170
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 am
Cost: EC, FP, TK
Technicolor Dreams
In the 1930's, the swift development of character animation and film techniques led to a period that became known as the 'Golden Age of cartoons'. The earliest of these were produced at the dawn of color in film, becoming a rare color treat in front of the mostly b/w feature films that followed them. These happy, delightful films often focused on fantasy and dream lands, a sharp contrast from the reality of the great depression. The best of these films are true classics, still fresh and entertaining 60 to 70 years after they were first produced. This program features a collection of these gems made in the 30's and 40's, featuring both beloved and forgotten characters. Presented by Steve Stanchfield with rare, original Technicolor prints. For all ages.
Presenter: Steve Stanchfield
Date: Sunday, May 17
Place: CNM 170
Time: 12:30 – 1:45 pm
Cost: EC, FP, TK
Backstage Stories: How TV Pilots Get Made
Did you ever wonder how the shows your kids watch on TV come to be? Well, every successful TV series begins with a pilot. And before the pilot there is about two years of behind-the-scenes work. Heather Kenyon will talk about the painstaking and sometimes political process of how pilots get made and shows are chosen. Over 30 minutes of never aired pilots will be screened!
Presenter: Heather Kenyon
Date: Sunday, May 17
Place: Stryker Theater
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 am
Cost: EC, FP, TK
