During this 8 week course, students will draw a character from their own imagination, then make it into a claymation puppet and learn to animate it. OR they will take part in building a large stop motion set and learn to animate a pre-made puppet on the set. We’ll be using a variety of materials, including wire and modelling clay for puppet making, and paint, cardboard, glue, plastic and wood to create the set. The final animation clip we create in the class will be shown at Arts! Arcata at The Sanctuary. The class’s animation clip will also be incorporated into Violet Crabtree’s feature film Wildfur, which will be completed in 2025 and entered into many film festivals. Stop motion animation incorporates many skills, including drawing, sculpting, and animating. It is thrilling to see a character you created come to life on the screen!
Violet Crabtree is an artist and stop motion animator living and working in Humboldt county. She has made claymation music videos for bands from Seattle, the San Francisco bay area and locally. She has also made several mixed media short films and one fully stop motion animated short film called House Cleaning in 2020. She is in the third year of production on her stop motion animated and live action feature film project Wildfur. Currently, she is a local artist in residence at The Sanctuary for August and September ’22, where she is in the process of shooting the live action portion of Wildfur. This will be her second year teaching stop motion animation at The Playhouse. She loves playing with puppets and is excited about getting the community involved in her feature film project!
The Playhouse teen program, also known as Apprentice Entertainment, is an afterschool program for teens that gives them experience in all aspects of mounting an event, from design and scripting to casting and stagecraft to promotion and execution of the final production. While the program’s roots are in theatre, the event could be anything from an ice-cream social to a parade – the students decide what they want to do, and then they do it, under the guidance of experienced teachers and mentors.
“Apprentice Entertainment is all about qualitative learning by experience, not teaching to test. Students graduating from the program have gone on to perform in and even create local theatrical productions – the only limit is their imagination!”
Sarah McKinney, Former Program Director
Workshops and activities bring together teens from diverse backgrounds and of widely differing abilities to create a program that gives back to the community. At the end of each year, program participants get together and plan out what to do the next year. Teens are introduced to the concept of long-term project planning, detailed planning, responsibility, and respect for other people’s space.
“Apprentice showed me that through art, you can bring a community together. As a creative outlet through the Playhouse, we weren’t restricted by school standards or people who didn’t want to contribute because it’s a program that you choose to be in. It gave us the opportunity to do things that we would have never been able to do anywhere else such as; writing and directing plays, and putting on dances and events.”
Former Apprentice Member and AHS graduate Mackenzie Ridgwood
The group comes together naturally through “speed-friending” social activities. Older teens are encouraged to mentor younger participants, and students with special needs find security in the predictability of activities that build towards a concrete goal. Peer support plays an important role in how participants address learning and behavioral differences within the group, opening doors and liberating hidden talents.
Recent Apprentice activities included a movie night before Halloween, animating a claymation led by local artist Violet Crabtree, the publication of a zine, and mural painting.
The group meets outdoors in the tent at the Arcata Playhouse on Tuesdays at 4pm. There’s no cost, and any High Schoolers or recently graduated interested in the arts are encouraged to come join us!
Follow us on instagram at @apprentice_entertainment
