The Studio Belongs to Everyone

If you ask the children who the studio belongs to, most of them know that the studio belongs to everyone and our activity is directed by the curiosity, creativity, questions, theories and ideas of those working in it. Often, the study is a flurry of activity and rarely a blizzard of busyness.  Usually the work has a hum of activity and I feel utterly at home in the rhythm and routines of the day. But sometimes I become overwhelmed by the breadth of explorations going on, often because I had not anticipated new uses of materials and wasn't prepared to support them.  That happened on Tuesday afternoon, we had:
clay modeling in the studio and children worked together and individually on a clay bust before a standing mirror,

 groups of children worked in the building area making structures out of a variety of materials,

older children working together in mixed media, exploring oil pastels, dot markers, collage and found art,

while others used colorful water soluble oil pastels on bristol board to create brilliant floral interpretations.

It was was a lot going on...and then the clay was brought to the tables and the bust fell over and mud was taking over the tables and floors and children needed help with hot glue and I became overwhelmed.
I said, "Gang we need to put the clay away.  I'm overwhelmed and I just need to put the clay away for now".  My request was met by some frustration and a few tears and my heart swelled with humility.  Then a child asked, "Angelina what is overwhelmed?"  I said, "I just can't support this many different works at the same time and it's becoming messy and I'm feeling stressed and I need to slow things down.  Does that make sense?"  It was amazing.  The children got it.  They began cleaning.  They grabbed cloths and mops and brooms.  They cleaned up all the mud as well as I ever could.   Then they began cleaning the marks left by previous students on tables and floor. There was no stress.  They just saw that Angelina needed help and the studio belonged to everyone and they just did what needed to be done.  I was humbled my their kindness, their competence, their ownership of the studio and their sense of community.  I thanked them all personally and then as a group during their closing circle.  I spoke to a few parents and I want to let all the families know how grateful I am, your children amaze and inspire me every day...in unexpected ways.
Thank you for entrusting them into our care.