“3…2…1…TIME! Please put your hands in the air & step away from your artwork!”

During the final week of June, spare parts hosted 2 fun & free events with art activities for kids, families & teachers. Housed in the St. Paul School Gym, we challenged participants to put their creativity & ingenuity to the test & utilized reusable materials to realize their own artwork.

The main activity was called VIP. Inspired by Food Network’s show, Chopped, the game challenged participants to use an assortment of provided reusable materials, while also highlighting a surprise ingredient revealed 5 seconds before the timer started. Materials ranged from straws, cardboard & foam to coffee filters & magazines. Participants were given 20 minutes to use any of the materials on the table to create an original work of art, include a title card & clean their area of extra supplies. Competition was fierce, with friend battling friend, student battling teacher, even brother battling sister! Winners were chosen on how well the surprise material was used, as well as the originality, craftsmanship, durability & overall concept.

Another activity of the day was the Mini Museum. Patrons of the Mini Museum create their own piece of art no larger than the size of a business card, title their mini masterpiece & provide an imaginary price. These artworks will hopefully be a traveling exhibit, touring schools around San Antonio & will debut at the Fine Arts Fair on July 26.

A final activity for families was the Help-A-Teacher Table, in which we asked friends to take the provided reusable materials on the table & create a fun and easy lesson plan for educators. The goal is to give teachers ideas about how to engage their students in educational & artistic reuse.

spare parts would like to thank all participants for an exciting & creative 2 days! And remember to attend the Free Fine Arts Fair at Wonderland of the Americas on July 26! See you there!