Odyssey Art Centers

Columbia Odyssey Art Center Has A New Home!

Columbia Odyssey Art Center is excited to announce that it has moved to a new location here in the heart of the Rosewood Community in Columbia, South Carolina! Paula Bowers, owner of Columbia’s Odyssey Art Center began her franchise from her home studio just a year and a half ago and her business has easily blossomed quickly, busting at the seams with new students and a need for more space. This has become the business of her dreams – Columbia Odyssey Art Center will now have a storefront on Rosewood Drive which is a bustling business thoroughfare. The new storefront of Columbia Odyssey Art Center will be able to offer more than just classes for children and adults. It will now have an art gallery and gift shop that will showcase art work from local artists. The shop will also sell art supplies to her students and customers frequenting the store! Paula has so many people to thank for her success here in the Columbia area! Her support from her family and friends, Odyssey Art Center’s founder Linda Perlmutter, and most importantly her students and their parents! The grand opening will begin on May 23rd, with an open house event in the weeks to follow (time and date to be announced!).

Linda's Corner

Recently, in looking over our student lists from ten, fifteen, and twenty years ago I came across some interesting, though not surprising, facts. First, we have had an amazing amount of valedictorians attend our classes. In addition, quite a few of our past students, now young adults, are extremely successful. From many of our students now entering prestigious schools, to those out of school who are photo editors of major magazines, Wall Street traders, Park Avenue lawyers, physicians, and on, they all credit Odyssey Art with contributing to their success. Why is that? The purpose of Odyssey Art is not necessarily to create artists–although that happens too. Rather, it is to teach the broad perspective, the gestalt, of learning. Art is not just drawing or painting. It is, on the other hand, literature, history, math, science and more.

We spend a good deal of time training children how to think and how to plan. Process is far more important than product. As a result, our program is really an enrichment class which gives children a pressure-free, individualized climate in which to learn. And learn they do painlessly and often without knowing it....I was amazed at the recall ability of one six year old as I was reading a Greek myth. She was able to recount the story in vivid detail and later, to crystallize the experience, draw a picture of her favorite part. I don’t think she’ll ever forget that story.

Our program works, and apparently brings a lot of happiness and success to those who participate. We are still looking for the right individuals to spread the good fortune and become owners of Odyssey Art Centers. If you or someone you know may be interested, please contact me.

My name is Alexander K. Berger. I started Odyssey Art when I was 10, and I have been doing it for about three years. I also like to play soccer, baseball, ski and do other sports. Playing music is also part of my life. I play the saxophone, tenor and alto. I don’t remember why I started Odyssey Art but I do know that I like it. I especially like making things that are 3D, such as a bowl or a cup. Every session includes at least one project like that and you can spend as much time on it as you like. I also like collages, and I am addicted to the saltines that are on the table. I have always found art fun and challenging and hope to continue for the rest of my life.

Alexander K. Berger

Summer Workshops

Columbia, SC

All sessions begin at 9 am and end at 12 noon.
Closed the week of July 4th.

Week 1: Masks May 23 – 27
Week 2: Incredible Acrylics May 30 – June 3
Week 3: Fabric Frenzy I June 6 – 10
Week 4: Wood – Robots June 13 – 17
Week 5: Clay Creations June 20 – 34
Week 6: Stitchery June 27 - July 1
Week 7: Fabric Frenzy II July 11 – 15
Week 8: Seaforms and other paris craft creatures July 18 – 22

Sleepy Hollow, NY

Sessions will be from 9am to 12 noon every weekday.

Week 1: Magical Masks! Create a mask of an animal or person to hang. July 11-15
Week 2: Fabric frenzy! Tie dying, silk painting, batik, and more! July 18-22

Columbia Museum of Art

American Women: A Selection from the National Portrait Gallery April 29 - July 10, 2005
www.columbiamuseum.org/

A Body of Work: The Human Figure from Degas to Diebenkorn

July 29 - October 2, 2005, www.columbiamuseum.org/

MOMA, New York City

The High Line is an exhibition for the redesign of a defunct railway that runs along Manhattan's far West Side. Comprising a series of gardens in the form of pits, plains bridges, mounds, ramps, and flowers, the project aims to create and preserve experiences of slowness, otherworldliness and distraction.

Columbia Odyssey Art Bridges Michel (top) works on her “Mystery Painting” watercolor.	Penny Cassar and Karen Stroub OAS instructors and assistants to Linda Perlmutter in the office, at “The Gates” in New York City

Columbia Odyssey Art Lillian and Maddy (middle) and Savannah Calvert (bottom), paint their amphora vases.	Top: Odyssey Art at Sea Training Class, October 2004 Bottom: Odyssey Art at Sea Training Class, February 2005

You may have noticed that on the ships our name tags say “Odyssey Art at Sea Instructor”, not Arts and Crafts Instructor. In addition to the activity sounding like busy work if we call it “arts and crafts”, our opposition to using the term “arts and crafts” was recently given even more credibility in an article which appeared in the museum section of the New York Times on Wednesday, March 30th…“it took only one round of focus groups to conclude that the negative associations for craft were so great that no amount of money could effectively over come them.”

Crystal Harmony

Rhoda Pidgeon May 9 - May 21
Duane Chenier May 21 - May 30
Liz Hirai May 30 - June 11
Fran D’Agostino June 11 - June 23

Crystal Symphony

Enid Roitman and Carole Reeve-Newson June 6 - June 17
Enid Roitman and Carole Reeve-Newson June17 - June 28
Connie Ivey and Carol Gangemi June 28 - July 10
Carina Erikson July10 - July 21
Christine Fitzgerald July 21 - August

Radisson Mariner

Paula Bowers May 6 – May 20

(This was served on the Radisson Mariner in February 2005 on her South American Circle voyage.) This is not a traditional South American dish, but the highly seasoned rub is an easy and delicious way to add a spicy crust to grilled meat. Try it, also, with butterflied leg of lamb. It is spectacular!

For the Coffee Rub
1/4 cup finely chopped espresso beans
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
6 to 8 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cardamom

To complete the recipe
8 loin chops (4 to 5 ounces each)

To make the rub, combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

To prepare the meat, arrange the chops in a baking dish and use your fingers to smear each chop on all sides with the rub. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Prepare the grill for direct grilling; the fire should be hot. Place the chops on the grill rack about 4 inches from the heat source. Grill until nicely browned, about 6 minutes per side.

Yields 8 servings

Make a colorful yarn nest and some birds to go in it.

Blow up a small balloon. Spread a thick layer of glue on it.
Put assorted colors of yarn on the balloon going three quarters of the way up, being sure to go around the balloon not up and down. Cover all the glue with yarn. The more interesting the yarn, the more interesting the nest will be. Allow it to dry by placing the top half in a cup so the nest is upside down.
The next day, remove the nest from the cup and pop the balloon. Shape some small balls of “Model Magic” into birds. Paint them with water colors.
Add feathers by poking them into the clay. Place the birds in the nest. Make some eggs for the birds to sit on.

Jackson Richards, Columbia Odyssey Art Master – Starred in his school production of “Annie”.
Sarah Bowers, Columbia Odyssey Art Master – was selected for the Richland District # 1 Honors Orchestra – 6th chair cello.
Krystin White, Columbia Odyssey Art Master – Was given the honor of being “Artist of the Month” at Hand Middle School for the 7th grade.
Jack Parrot, Columbia Odyssey Art Bristle –Won 1st Place at SC State Fair for his 3-D sculpture of his “Ornithopter”.
Evan Stallings, Columbia Odyssey Art Artisan – Won the “Beverly Buchanan Award” at the SC State Fair for his self portrait.
Maddy Parrot, Columbia Odyssey Art Master – Won 2nd place for the Second Grade exhibit for her self-portrait.
Zachary Biggs, Columbia Odyssey Art Master – Won the “Wassily Kandinsky Award” for his self portrait at the SC State Fair.
Melissa Corbett, former Columbia Odyssey Art Master – Won the “Gustav Klimt Award” at the SC State Fair.
Max Berdik, Emma Maltby, Sleepy Hollow Odyssey Art Artisans, and Hannah Webber, Sleepy Hollow Odyssey Art Master, for recently winning highest honors in this year’s WordMasters Challenge.
Sarah Joselow, Tuesday assistant to Linda Perlmutter and former Sleepy Hollow Odyssey Art Artisan and Master, scored 800 on the verbal, 800 on the math, and 770 on the essay part of the SAT’s. We are so proud!
Jackson Fleder, Wednesday assistant to Linda Perlmutter and former Sleepy Hollow Odyssey Art Artisan and Master, was admitted to some of the best art schools in the country (among them Cal Arts and Boston Museum of the Arts – Tufts University) as a junior in high school. We are so proud of him too!
Marlene Oser, OAS Instructor, has won a three year certificate from the National Academy School of Fine Arts in NYC.
Sean D'Attore, Sleepy Hollow Odyssey Art Artisan made a glazed plate which was selected for the Brookside School Art Show in April 2005.
Matthew McGough, former Sleepy Hollow Odyssey Art Artisan and Master.... Doubleday just published his memoir “Bat Boy – My True Life Adventures Coming of Age with the New York Yankees”

Please let us know of other awards or items of interest! Send to Odyssey Artifacts, Box 512, Tarrytown, New York 10591

How can you get the bee to move closer to the flower?

Highlight for answer: Move your face closer to the screen.

To have taken up painting, no matter at what age, or point in one’s life, is to have entered into a new, and deeper awareness of the whole meaning of existence, to have tasted spiritual refreshment, and to have found the perfect form of creative relaxation.

— Mervyn Levy

Jeanine Saltz, owner and instructor of the Saratoga Springs Odyssey Art Center, for health reasons, is taking a break until the fall. She is looking forward to starting up again. We wish her a very speedy recovery.

Thank You
…to the following students for this issue’s “Artifacts”
Illuminated letters: Alexandra Coffey, Julia Duffy, Roxanna Hedayati, Pierson Holliday, Katherine Thayer.

We’d love to hear from you!

E-mail or write us at:
P.O. Box 512, Tarrytown, NY 10591
e-mail: odyssey art@aol.com
web-site: www.odyssey art.com
Saratoga Springs, NY (518) 361-4550
Sleepy Hollow, NY (914) 631-7148
Columbia, SC (803)799-9409 or
(803) 397-2158