Whether it’s items picked-up off the street, junk mail, recycling finds, or discarded packaging from the kitchen, all the little pieces and scraps of seemingly useless paper items that are everywhere these days, can become fertile materials for art-making.

After more than ten years of making street art out of street trash, Instructor Lance Rothstein, (AKA @fanclub.13) will guide this special workshop to commemorate World Collage Day. A quick half-hour introduction and discussion of the practice, will be followed by a half-hour scavenger hunt around the few blocks surrounding the Morean Arts Center to gather some materials. These found items, along with a basket full of fun scraps brought by the artist, will be transformed by the participants into intricate works of art celebrating the long tradition of collage artists such as Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Hoch, Ray Johnson, Picasso, Braque, Rauschenberg and Rosenquist.

“I find great pleasure and peace in sorting through the items I’ve found over the years; little ticket stubs, gum wrappers, price labels, cigar wrappers and newspapers left on the bus with half a crossword finished. These are the relics of our own society. Sometimes I try to look at them as if I were an archaeologist from a thousand years in the future, and I let myself imagine what those people were like, who left this precious scrap of information behind for me to come across? What did they use it for? What does it mean?”

These are the things we will be investigating in this workshop. Participants are encouraged to bring their own scraps if they feel like gathering some beforehand, and also to bring their preferred collaging tools such as scissors, pen knife, cutting mat, etc… if they have them, but all supplies will be provided for everyone. Finished artworks will be shared on social media using the hashtag #WorldCollageDay2023 and we will also view work being made around the world in conjunction with the event.

$65