Tag Archives: Art Travel

New Worlds

25 Oct

Mosaic Art Retreats

Gotta say — I love this quote. I was 41 before I left home alone on my first international trip, and 42 when I arrived solo for three weeks in a country whose language I couldn’t speak. In fact, I didn’t even know the alphabet! I still remember stepping onto a bus in the dark after 15 hours of travel and being dumbstruck by the reality of what I was doing. How could I have been so naive totally lacking in good sense?????

And I am eternally grateful, because those three weeks alone in Crete taught me more about myself than 42 years of living, and worlds about “foreigners”, adventure, and the biggest risk of all — opening the eyes and heart to new experiences.

More, please.

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Learning a New Language? Child’s Play!

19 Oct

Travel Tips

Travel Tips

 

 

 

Happy Feet Travel Tip #1

Itchy feet and brain food are a great combination, and MindSnacks makes child’s play, rather literally, out of learning a new language. Fast and addictive, this fun phone app  from i-tunes is perfect for small chunks of time. Carpool lines, waiting rooms, and take-out time are perfect for quick refreshers or the next short lesson, and the quizzes are 90-second mini-games that appeal to adults and kids alike. With a free entry-level version or a full version at just $4.99, this quick bite feeds you Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Chinese.

MindSnacks won’t make you fluent, but don’t we all need to know where the bagno is, or the difference between homme and femme?

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Global Mosaic Mural Project: Costa Rica 2013

17 Oct

Global Mosaic Tour: Costa Rica
Community Mosaic Mural Project
with Laurel True
January 10-19, 2013
$2225 Per Person

Global Mosaic Project Costa RicaBe part of a team of Global Community Builders by participating in the creation of a community mosaic mural in Costa Rica!

Laurel True, founder of True Mosaics Studio and The Global Mosaic Project is partnering with EcoTeach Costa Rica for the first Global Mosaic Tour. Share a unique experience that combines Voluntourism, art education and community process.

Laurel will facilitate the creation of a public mosaic mural with tour participants and local community members for a small medical clinic in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.

Global Mosaic ProjectTour participants will learn firsthand how to facilitate and create a mosaic mural while involving community members of all ages. Participants will experience a group mosaic-making process through the actual creation of a mosaic mural. Experience with mosaics is not a requirement for this project. Laurel will teach all tour participants mosaic setting techniques and how to pass those skills onto others in the context of a community project.

Global Mosaic ProjectThis will be a fun and educational project that will bring art education, neighborhood beautification and an opportunity for cross-cultural exchange to the community of La Fortuna. Participants will be working with ceramic tile mosaic. Participants may be asked to carry some tile from their home city, and these materials will be combined with locally sourced materials.

Additional Educational Elements:
Casual evening sessions will include discussions focusing on different mosaic-making techniques that can be employed with groups with any level of training, approaching design development with community involvement and multiple approaches to project coordination.

This tour is suitable for artists and non-artists alike. Anyone who wants to come make a community mosaic mural in Costa Rica will have a great time. Artists who would like to add a community component to their work, teachers, and community organizers will find this education tour of particular benefit to their professional development training.

Highlights:

  • Be part of a team of Community Builders and participate in the creation of a community mosaic.
  • Learn how to pass mosaic setting techniques onto others participating in the community project.
  • Work with Laurel True, public artist, educator and community organizer specializing in sculptural and architectural mosaic projects.
  • Visit Asis Wild Animal Rescue Center
  • Enjoy dinner at Don Juan’s Organic Farm
  • Participate in zip lines or hanging bridges

Global Mosaic ProjectProgram Fee 2013: $2225/person
Program Fee Includes: Bi-lingual Naturalist Guide, accommodations, private in-country transportation, meals, activity & entrance fees, post departure travel insurance and exit taxes.
Trip Details: Please visit our Mosaic Making Tour web page with complete trip details.

Contact Us: For additional information, please contact Stephanie Hall at 1-800-626-8992, ext. 10 or stephanie@ecoteach.com.

Info Links:

Registration and Nuts and Bolts Info

General Information

Inspirational Photo Gallery

Global Mosaic Project Facebook Page

Eco Teach Facebook Page

Laurel True, True Mosaics

Global Mosaic Project Costa RicaAwesome Itinerary for Trip:

ATENAS & THE CENTRAL VALLEY (1 night)
Arrive in the central valley of Costa Rica, home to 80% of the country’s population and surrounded by mountains. This area boasts fantastic vistas and a perfect climate. You will spend your first night in a comfortable country setting and have a chance to get acquainted with your fellow travelers.

LA FORTUNA/ARENAL (7 nights)
Laurel True will lead participants in a group mosaic‐making process through the actual creation of a mosaic mural. Experience with mosaics is not a requirement for this project. Laurel will teach all tour participants mosaic setting techniques and how to pass those skills onto others in the context of a community project. The Mosaic workshops will be held in the town of La Fortuna at the base of the spectacular Arenal volcano. You will stay at the wonderful Don Juans’s Organic Farm for the first five nights and then two nights at Arenal Springs Hotel.

Activities outside the workshop will include a tour of the organic farm, time to explore the town of La Fortuna, and a visit to the Asis Wildlife Rescue Center which cares for rescued wild animals, from monkeys to peccaries, kinkajous, macaws and more! Before leaving the Arenal area you will have the opportunity to fly through the forest canopy on a zipline tour!

ATENAS ; THE CENTRAL VALLEY (1 night)
End the trip right back where you started ‐‐ in the Central Valley. This is the night to celebrate your accomplishments and reflect on your experiences.

Itinerary Printable Version is here.

About Laurel True:

Laurel True is a public artist, educator and community organizer specializing in sculptural and architectural mosaic projects. Her projects are focused mainly in urban and developing areas and she is committed to fostering arts education and entrepreneurship both in and out of the classroom. True is co‐founder of the Institute of Mosaic Art in California and has lectured and taught internationally.

In addition to maintaining a professional studio practice, True facilitates community ‐ based mosaic projects in the US, Africa and Haiti through her organization, The Global Mosaic Project. Her work has been featured in independent and mainstream media, books and publications. She has created and facilitated hundreds of projects over the last 20 years.

She is a member of the Community Built Association, the Society of American Mosaic Artists, Americans for the Arts and the National Art Education Association.

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Joie de Vivre Art Tour Paris: 2013

9 Oct

France, Joie de Vivre Art Tour
with Bonnie Fitzgerald, Maverick Mosaics
Family or Solo Travel
June 29 – July 6, 2013
Paris and Surrounding Area

Joie de Vivre Tour Maverick MosaicsIntroducing the trip of a lifetime for families and the young at heart. Maverick’s Art Camp Abroad inaugural trip is to France, in June 2013. Parents will enjoy a week of culture, history and great food while sharing age appropriate activities with your children. For adults and older teens traveling alone you will experience the splendor of France in the spirit of Maverick Mosaics’ successful Art Camp format; learn, create and laugh.

This trip is for ages 6 to 106.

You will travel with Maverick Mosaics on this one-of-a kind vacation, experiencing the magic and beauty of France through the awe and wonder of children. Your trip will be filled with fun adventures and designed to entertain while providing unique learning experiences. We offer hassle free travel, wonderful accommodations, and interactive cultural experiences based in the world of art and architecture. Hands on workshops are will include mosaics, water color, drawing, sculpture, and even a cooking class in a castle!

Our adventure begins in Paris as we spend 2 days exploring the City of Light including a special guided tour of the Louvre. Each morning Maverick’s founder, Bonnie Fitzgerald, will lead hands-on workshops for the children creating works of art based on the previous day’s art education activity. Adults may also participate in the workshops, or take time for themselves to relax or venture around the city, all with the peace of mind that their children are having their own safe creative experience.

After exploring Paris we will travel to surrounding areas of art interest, including Monet’s Gardens in Giverny, Maison Picassiette (the mosaic house) in Chartres, and much more. Our excursions are trips to unique sites offering important art lessons and workshop opportunities. Along the way we will be videotaping and photographing our adventures and at the closing night dinner party seven days later we relive our week; this will be the best souvenir ever!

Children 16 and over may attend with parent’s permission and Maverick will have chaperone services. An adult must accompany children under 16 and adults may participate a la carte in workshops and planned tours.

Maverick’s travel and logistics partner is A La Carte Travel, the region’s leader in providing educational institutions with affordable access to learning opportunities abroad. A La Carte Travel promotes the values of understanding the world we live in through experiencing and learning about different cultures. With over 15 years experience organizing educational tours, A La Carte Travel is the perfect partner with Maverick Mosaics for this unique travel and learning experience.

For more details, trip itinerary, workshop details and costs please click here.

Bon Voyage!

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Mosaic Retreat in Costa Rica: November 2013

8 Oct

Mosaic Retreat: Costa Rica
Flora & Fauna
Carol Shelkin and Pam Goode
November 23 – December 1, 2013
$1960

Join us in the jungles of Costa Rica to work fauvist portraiture magic on local flora and fauna. Whether you’re drawn to the lush foliage and floral exotics of the rainforest or the brilliance of toucans, macaws, the Blue Morpho butterfly, or beady-eyed tree frogs, we’ll spend a week creating mosaic “portraits” of Costa Rican beauties.

We’ll explore forest paths, gardens, and sanctuaries on our first day, allowing ample time to capture the photographic images that make your heart go pittypat. We’ll then work to simply images for mosaic via photo editing and collage techniques. The rest of the week will be yours to work with the group or alone, with optional daily instruction, demos, and personal attention.

We’ll also schedule a free day for adventure activities, as well as one or two shorter excursions. At the top of the list will be a visit to nearby Arenal Volcano, as well as a good soak in the local hot springs.

Accommodations will be at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge, an eco-lodge and organic farm situated in a private rainforest preserve adjacent to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. The lodge includes 7 rooms with bath and wrap-around porches, plus individual or family garden cabinas, pool, jacuzzi, and spa with a wide range of treatments available. Daily organic meals prepared onsite by a Slow Food Movement chef will be included. Special Request meals can be accommodated. All rooms are single accommodations with one queen bed. A very limited number of double accommodations may be available. Please contact for pricing if a spouse wishes to join you.

$1,960 price includes arrival and return shuttle for our group from San Jose Airport to Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon Farm), accommodations for seven nights (Saturday – Saturday), seven breakfasts, five lunches, and five dinners, one guided farm tour, one guided rainforest tour, six days of instruction including one-on-one time, and Welcome Reception. Students will be responsible for bringing materials, tools, and substrates. Optional activities at an extra cost include guided Arenal Volcano Lava Hike, two lunches and dinners in town, Butterfly Garden or Cloud Forest Tours, Zipline Canopy Tour, Rafting, or Hanging Bridge Canopy Tour. One day will be set aside for On Your Own Adventures. Airfare, local transportation (excluding airport shuttle), optional tours, alcohol and gratuities are not included in the trip cost. Class is limited to 12 participants.

Room selections will be made in order of full payments received.

Average high in November is 82; average low is 68.

For a tentative daily schedule or more information, please email Pam.

For more information about Carol Shelkin, please visit Carol’s website, or Carol’s class description.

For more information about Pam Goode, please visit Pam’s website or business page.

To register, please email Pam with name and contact info. Deposit of $500 (1/2) may be made through PayPal or by check. Payment in full must be completed by October 1, 2013.

Cancellation and refund policy:
All cancellations are subject to a 20% handling fee. For reservations cancelled 90 days or more before workshop, 50% is refundable. If cancelled less than 60 days before the workshop, 25% is refundable. If cancelled less than 45 days before the workshop, fee is non-refundable.

Should any workshop/retreat be canceled the entire amount paid will be refunded within fourteen days after the tour’s cancellation. Instructors have no obligation regarding any additional costs or fees related to the issuance and/or cancellation of airline tickets or other travel reservations. Instructors and Finca Luna Nueva Lodge accept no liability for any airline cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a non-refundable ticket or for canceled flights.

Travel Insurance
It is strongly recommended that all workshop participants purchase Trip Cancellation, Emergency Medical Evacuation, Baggage, Accident and Medical insurance from a reputable insurance company.

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