When Children Meet "the Artist"

There is something very different about showing children a photograph of an artwork versus inviting them to stand in front of the real thing.

And it becomes even more vivid when the artist is standing there too.

One of the things that makes our Art Lab program at Factor IJ so special is that we are surrounded by working artists and changing exhibitions. It can feel a little like having our art classes inside a museum. The children can encounter original artworks, ask questions, meet the people who made them, and then carry that inspiration directly back into our own studio.

Artists bring their own way of seeing

I love inviting visiting artists into Art Lab because every artist brings a unique vision—a particular way of looking at the world that I could never reproduce simply by teaching about their work.

This autumn, we have been working with exhibiting artist Candice Binjacar, a young French artist whose work grows out of her dreams and inner world. She translates these images into clay masks and figures loosely connected to Jungian archetypes.

Together, we talked with the children about dreams, feelings and the different forms an emotion might take. Then the children began creating their own clay masks and puppets.

This connected beautifully with our Inside-Out drawing practice at Art Lab, where children begin by noticing what they feel inside and finding their own colors, lines and forms to express it.

This week, the children painted and decorated their creations—and brought them to life inside a wonderful little puppet theatre Candice created. It has been imaginative, playful and full of surprises.

Turning discarded things into new beings

Last autumn, we had a completely different experience with artist Maas van Dinhoven and his Findeling project.

His wonderful creatures are assembled from things most of us might overlook or throw away: bottle caps, springs, screws, plastic packaging, pieces of old toys and other discarded objects.

After encountering his work and meeting Maas himself, the children began looking at these everyday materials differently.

A bottle cap could become an eye. A spring might become a leg. A forgotten piece of plastic could suggest the beginning of an entirely new creature.

Inspired by Maas's Findelings, the children created their own beings from recycled and found materials. Suddenly, what had seemed like rubbish became a world of possibilities.

Art education that is alive

These encounters are one of my favorite parts of teaching at Factor IJ and it spread into my other locations in De Pijp and Denise School afterschool.

Children aren't only learning about artists who lived long ago or looking at reproductions in books. They experience art as something that is being made right now, by real people with ideas, questions, experiments and wonderfully individual ways of seeing.

And then they get to respond.

The goal is never to copy the artist. The artist becomes a spark:

• What do I see?

• What does this make me wonder?

• And what might I create from my own imagination?

That is where arts education becomes especially exciting for me.

And there is more coming!

In November, we will meet Yasser Balemans, whose upcoming public art project explores clouds. I’m already curious to see where that encounter will take the children.

Come experience Art Lab

If your child would like to experience Art Lab Amsterdam, you are welcome to get in touch about joining us for a free trial lesson.

Our classes combine encounters with contemporary art, playful experimentation, artistic skills and our Inside-Out approach helping children discover not only how artists see the world, but also how diverse art can be. My intention is that the children will learn confidence that they too can share their feelings, expressions, and art in the community.

I have also noticed how inspiring this exchange has also been for the visiting artists! The benefits go both ways. Several of our visiting artists have also shared how much they enjoy discovering new ways to communicate their artistic practice to children and learning more about themselves and teaching through the collaboration.