For Fall 2022, Rhizome is pleased to offer a range of in-depth programming, facilitated by practitioners, for homeschoolers and afterschoolers. These will be small, friendly, relaxed classes focused on creative collaboration and open-minded engagement with the material. Please email info@rhizomedc.org with any questions. Scholarships available.
ALL *MONDAY* CLASSES HAVE THE OPTION OF IN-PERSON OR REMOTE PARTICIPATION.
Seminar: Who Do You Think You Are | Mondays 11:30am-1pm | Ages 15+ & returning close reading students
Story Structure | Mondays 2-3:30pm | Ages 12-15
Writing for Flow | Mondays 4:15-5:05pm | Ages 9-11
Collage / Assemblage / Mixed media | Tuesdays 2-3:30pm | Ages 11-14
Sculpturama | Tuesdays 4:20-5:20pm | Ages 8-12
Literature and Resistance | Wednesdays 10am-noon | Ages 14+ FULL/WAITLIST
Creative Improvisation Workshop | Wednesdays 12:30 - 2pm | Ages 14+ or permission from instructor
Literature and Composition | Thursdays 10-11:30am | Ages 12-13
Painting with Acrylic + Women Painters | Thursdays noon-1:30pm | Ages 10-13
Hands-on Botany (for returning students) | Fridays 10-11am | Ages 9-13
Hands-on Botany | Fridays 11:15am-12:15pm | Ages 8-12
Classes begin September 12 and run through December 19.
Monday classes meet for 13 sessions; no classes 9/26 or 10/10. REMOTE PARTICIPATION POSSIBLE.
Tuesday classes meet for 13 sessions, no classes 11/22.
Wednesday classes meet for 13 sessions; no classes 11/23.
Thursday classes meet for 13 sessions; no classes 11/24.
Friday classes meet for 13 sessions; no classes 11/25.
Seminar: Who Do You Think You Are | Mondays 11:30am-1pm | Ages 15+ and returning close reading students | $235-350 sliding scale
Geared toward returning close reading students but open to new students aged 15+, this class explores the literature and philosophy of identity. Immersive, possibly illusory, ever-shifting– in this class we will probe the lines we draw between Self and Other, individual and community, and political identity around gender, sexual orientation, race, and ability. If you know a teenager who has ever wondered, "Who am I and where do I belong?", this is the class for them.
Story Structure | Mondays 2-3:30pm | Ages 12-15 | $235-$350 sliding scale
For six imaginative people aged 12-15 who like to weave a yarn---
Bring your ideas, projects or ready minds to learn the secrets of a gripping plot, no matter your medium.
September: What makes a story go?-- The inciting incident, plus character development, setting, and Point of View.
October: What keeps us hooked?-- The midpoint transformation, plus internal and external conflict, failure, and struggle.
November: What makes a satisfying ending?-- The climax, plus putting our plot in moral context.
December: Polish and Communicate-- Guiding the experience through imagery, symbolism, and detail.
Throughout we will talk about Conflict, the essential ingredient for every story. We will hone a critical understanding of our own and other stories, explore archetypal and experimental plot structures, and frolic in the fertile creative ground of mixed feelings.
Upon registering, please include the participant's favorite story to share with the class. If we can read/watch/consume a few common stories, we'll benefit from the shared reference point.
Writing for Flow | Mondays 4-4:50pm | Ages 9-11 | $130-$195 sliding scale
This is a play-based practice class for 9-11 year olds. Creative prompts, group writing activities, and in-class writing sessions-- great for enthusiastic writers but designed to entice the reluctant or inhibited writer too. Writing as a form of play helps shorten the distance between the thoughts in our heads and the words on the page. Go wild, and go for the giggles, while building stamina, confidence, and appreciation for the possibilities of the blank page.
Collage / Assemblage / Mixed media | Tuesdays 2-3:30pm | Ages 11-14 | $250-375 sliding scale
Create collages and assemblages while exploring different elements of design. Draw inspiration from observation and imagination, choosing different themes for your artwork. Examine the work of other mixed media artists and try out various materials like inks, paints, incorporating different papers, photos and found objects in your work.
Sculpturama | Tuesdays 4:20-5:20pm | Ages 8-12 | $170-250 sliding scale
Try out different materials like fiber plaster, wood and cardboard to create unique 3D art projects over several weeks. Play collaborative art games with other participants that will expand your ideas about sculpture.
Literature and Resistance | Wednesdays 10am-noon | Ages 14+ | $390 (sliding scale available if needed) | THIS CLASS IS FULL - IF YOU SIGN UP YOU WILL BE PLACED ON A WAITLIST
The focus of this class is literature that emerges from, responds to, or enacts forms of resistance. We will read essays, poetry, and fiction, watch films, and listen to podcasts that address political struggles, social injustice, and/or resist power structures. In response to the literature, students will experiment with various essay forms, with opportunities for creative writing as well. While considering principles of composition and rhetoric, we will be asking: What are authors accomplishing in their work, and how do we engage with them? How can we most effectively express ourselves?
This class will help students develop their ability to express complex arguments and analyses, as well as sharpen their attention to details of grammar and style. We will focus on what makes writing effective and enjoyable to read, as well as how to feel confident with one's writing voice. Classes will involve short lectures, discussions, writing, and small group work.
Creative Improvisation Workshop | Wednesdays 12:30 - 2pm | Ages 14+ or permission from instructor | $200-275 sliding scale
This course explores improvisation as a creative practice with cultural and political implications. The word "improvisation" might provoke ideas of "taking solos" in jazz music or dance, but that's not what we're going for here. Improvisation as we will practice it has very different, nearly opposite connotations: listening comes first; decisions are made on the spot in a collective manner; the group is a leaderless entity from which action arises. We will draw on the work of practitioners for whom improvisational artistic practice grounds/grounded their whole lives: Pauline Oliveros, Don and Moki Cherry, Milford Graves, others. We will introduce exercises to facilitate group telepathy, to clear away notions of what performance should or should not look or sound like, to open doors to open-ended spontaneous collective co-creation. The instructor's background is in music, but it will be possible to participate with music, dance, visual media, words - the class is open to all with a creative practice or who wish to develop one.
A sample day in the life of this class could be:
-enact one of Pauline Oliveros' Sonic Meditations together: relax the body, open the ears, vocalize together according to a set of instructions;
-then, study and perform the James Tenney piece "Having Never Written a Note for Percussion" - over the course of a long period of time a single drum roll (or any repetitive motion) moves from as soft (small gesture) as possible to as loud (large gesture) as possible and back down again;
-then, create improvised sound / movement / gestures together with particular attention on dynamics (how big, how small) and slow transitions.
Literature and Composition | Thursdays 10-11:30am | Ages 12-13 | $280 (sliding scale available if needed)
In this class, students will strengthen their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. We will read works of fiction and nonfiction, and write stories, letters, poems, and creative essays (among other things) in response. Class time will be devoted to discussions, writing activities, and language/storytelling games. Our goal is to challenge ourselves and enjoy literature and writing. Students will be expected to read roughly 50-100 pages a week, and there will be optional writing assignments outside of class.
Painting with Acrylic + Women Painters | Thursdays noon-1:30pm | Ages 10-13 | $275-400 sliding scale
The class will include an exploration of the lives and work of Etel Adnan, Clementine Hunter, Alma Thomas, Frida Kahlo, Helen Frankenthaler, and Joy Labinjo, while emphasizing the development of each student’s unique visual voice. I will focus on a particular artist for two weeks, teaching new techniques, concepts, and vocabulary. The development of social-emotional skills (risk taking, frustration tolerance and being interested in and supportive of the work of fellow artists) will also modeled and practiced. Tuition includes quality brushes, acrylic paint, palette paper, and canvas.
Hands-on Botany for returning students | Fridays 10-11am | Ages 8-13 | $170-$235 sliding scale
Students will learn and practice plant identification skills, explore the plant groups that grow in different ecosystems, discuss the relationships between plants and humans, and learn practical uses of area plants. Each student will keep a nature journal throughout the class. This class is for students who took last year’s Botany class or with permission from the instructor - email us.
*This class meets in different locations (all within a couple miles of Rhizome) from week to week including: Spring Park in Takoma Park; Carter Barron at 16th/Kennedy NW in DC; Rock Creek Park in the vicinity of Takoma; Wangari Gardens in Columbia Heights.
Hands-on Botany | Fridays 11:15am-12:15pm | Ages 8-12 | $170-$235 sliding scale
Students will learn and practice plant identification skills, explore the plant groups that grow in different ecosystems, discuss the relationships between plants and humans, and learn practical uses of area plants. Each student will keep a nature journal throughout the class.
*This class meets in different locations (all within a couple miles of Rhizome) from week to week including: Spring Park in Takoma Park; Carter Barron at 16th/Kennedy NW in DC; Rock Creek Park in the vicinity of Takoma; Wangari Gardens in Columbia Heights.
About the instructors:
Kanchan Balsé is a teaching artist and curriculum developer with over 20 years of experience working with children in and around DC. She uses a variety of media in her own art and in her work with children and adults. Her classes center the work of artists who have been excluded from mainstream art education. Kanchan facilitates fun, inclusive, and inspiring experiences where students gain the confidence to develop their unique visual voice.
Leslie Bumstead is a writer and educator who teaches literature, composition, and creative writing in the DC area. She has taught in various settings: homeschooling cooperative, public high school, AIDS clinic, university, prison, and summer camp. Her collection of poems, Cipher/Civilian, was published by Edge Books in 2005. Other works, including essays and translations, have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines. She loves to collaborate with students and facilitate their own engagement with literature and writing.
Layne Garrett is an improvising musician and instrument builder based in Washington DC. He works with prepared guitars, found objects, and self-built instruments. He plays in regular and irregular collaborations with a spectrum of players from across the DC and Baltimore sound universe. He has taught music and instrument building classes, camps, and workshops at KID Museum, FutureMakers, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Rhizome DC, and area schools. He is a founding member and currently the Program Director of Rhizome DC.
Anna Josephson is a homeschooling parent in the District. She grew up in Alaska, where she received Socratic seminar education starting at age 12. She is a published author currently shopping her first novel.
Caroline MacKinnon is a parent, artist and educator who lives in Takoma Park, MD. She teaches ceramics classes to children and adults at the Takoma Park Community Center. She also holds art workshops for small groups in area schools and has previously run arts camps at Rhizome. She likes meeting people, making art and collecting things.
Holly Poole-Kavana was a budding botanist at a young age, and followed her interest to earn a BS in botany from Cornell University in 2000. She started studying herbal medicine in 2005 at the Pacific School of Herbal Medicine in Oakland, CA after her experiences with health care work led her to seek out new option for healing. She went on to apprentice with herbalist 7song at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine, participating in medicine making, free clinic consultations, and wildcrafting in addition to classroom learning. She also completed the Sacred Plant Traditions Clinic II program in which student herbalists see clients in a free clinic under the supervision of experienced mentors. She practices herbal medicine in Washington DC. She has led countless plant walks and taught a range of plant-focused classes to all ages, including to several local homeschool groups.