Workshops, Residencies and Art Parties!
Donna and Jeff Semmerling teach art as a necessary part of healthy living. Their company "Inside-Out Studios" offers a range of experiences and explorations in art to fit any age group including:
- Art parties for birthdays and special occasions
- After school multi media art classes
- Artist residencies and class room visits
- Mask and puppetry design and performance classes
- Customized group projects and workshops
Inside Out Studios
www.insideoutarts.us
2005 West Montrose
Chicago, IL 60618
At the South West Corner of Montrose and Damen
Please call 773-697-5012 or email us at jeff@maskartists.com
for more information and to reserve a space.
Donna Semmerling has an Illinois State Teaching Certificate and specializes in painting and drawing and doll and puppet crafting. She offers classes for elementary school aged students, parents and children together, as well as for adults.
Jeff Semmerling is a master mask maker who teaches theater, mask and puppetry classes and workshops for all ages and all kinds of groups. Puppetry for the Better Reader, Masks as Acting Tools, and Adult Mask Classes up to the Master Level. Since 1998 Jeff Semmerling has been taking art to the kids in Chicago neighborhoods and around the world. He brings his 22 years as a professional performer and artist to the arts and craft table and children respond to his commitment and passion to do positive work.
Past Workshops
"The Masks of Care": A custom workshop designed for Patch Adams M.D.. As part of his "Conference on Caring" in 2000, Jeff Semmerling (the Mad Master Mask Maker) prepared 7 neutral face sculptures in 4 different colored stoneware clays. Conference participants like Patch and his sons, Julia Butterfly Hill (who sat in a Redwood tree for 738 days to raise awareness of the plight of old growth forests) and Firefly expert Jim Lloyd Ph.D., and the father of underground architecture Malcolm Wells pushed caring expressions into the sculptures. The results were cleaned up and cast by Jeff Semmerling into a series of masks known as "The Masks of Care." Three products resulted: The original stoneware sculptures, one set of Papeir Mache' Masks, and plaster negative castings within which a neoprene series is being cast.
Europe: Jeff traveled to Macedonia during their civil war of 2001 to teach artist and teacher Risto Andreeve to make positive tools of transformation for the "Smile Factory Macedonia 2001". Also in 2001 Jeff taught with his masks in Italy at "Alcatraz Italia," the school of Jacopo Fo, philosopher comic son of the famous comedian Dario Fo.
"As You Like It": A 10 day residency presented by Jeff Semmerling during the Summer of 2001 for the New England Youth Theatre in Brattleboro, Vermont. There he taught and constructed masks for each of the play's characters for an all masked production of the Shakespeare play.