UPCOMING EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

Taxidermy Class, Bird
Date: May 12th and July 21st
Time: 11:30am - 6:30pm
Location: 766 Valencia Street, Conference Room

This one day, comprehensive class will be both fun and instructive. You will be taught the complete process step by step from the beginning to a finished bird mount.  Student will learn techniques from skinning to sculpting forms and finishing touches. Bases or wall mounts will also be provided so the final product can be properly displayed!  The bird, all materials and tools will be provided for the day of the class.  Students will take home their finished taxidermy specimen.

To sign up online, click here.

For more info stop by Paxton Gate or call 415.824.1872.

Terrarium Class
Dates: May 20th, May 27th and June 10th
Time: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Location: 766 Valencia Street, Conference Room

Make a terrarium the Paxton Gate way! Terrariums have become increasing popular in the design world. And they're great homemade gifts. In this 2 hour class,s students will follow step by step instructions on our favorite planting techniques. All materials included in the price of the class, to be enjoyed for years to come!

Your kit will include: Hanging orb glass planter, Stainless steel forceps, Assorted succulents, Appropriate potting medium (special soil). Students gain invaluable horticultural knowledge to confidently execute their own terrarium designs in the future regardless of plant selection or vessel type!
Lecture & hands-on training, approx. 2 hrs.  Advance registration required; first come, first served. We are accepting registration over the phone as well as in the store.

Sign up online here.  For more info stop by Paxton Gate, email or call 415.824.1872.

Sidewalk Sale
Date: May 19th
Time: 11:00 am until sold out
Paxton Gate – 824 Valencia; Curiosities for Kids – 766 Valencia

Come out for the Valencia-wide Sidewalk Sale, where we'll feature heavily discounted merchandise and plenty of surprises. Find some sweet deals and soak up the spring sun with us!

Kokedama Building Workshop
Date: May 26, 2012
Time: 11am – 1pm
Location: 766 Valencia, Conference Room

Kokedama is the traditional Bonsai discipline of planting within a sphere of moss. Many techniques used in traditional bonsai are used when creating Kokedama, including the shaping of branches to create a balanced appearance and the trimming of roots to encourage stunted growth. While typically displayed on a shallow dish, Kokedama can also be suspended in the air to create a stunning and beautiful effect; this practice is commonly referred to as the 'string garden'.

Sign up here for our Kokedama class and learn how to make TWO of your own hanging gardens! All supplies included.

For more info stop by Paxton Gate or call 415.824.1872.

Art Exhibition Opening - Scott Dupree
Date: Friday, April 13, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Paxton Gate's Curiosities For Kids
766 Valencia Street
Show runs April 11 – May 22, 2012

Paxton Gate's Curiosities for Kids is excited to announce the interactive opening reception for our latest art event by Atlanta-based artist Scott Dupree! Join us on Friday, April 13th, 6pm - 8pm to celebrate this lighthearted, one-of-a-kind show. In addition to all new artworks created just for the event, Scott will be bringing along his famed costumes and sculpture installations—life-sized replicas of his painted subjects which can be tried-on and worn by the attendees around our gallery space! This reception will be a memorable, can't-miss event!

More of Scott's work can be found at his website.

Scott Dupree: "My childhood was spent traveling across the United States with a nomadic family, briefly sampling diverse American cultures and the unique regional traditions of rural, urban, and oceanic communities. During my time living on our sailboat and inside our tiny Volkswagen, my world-view evolved as the front yard of my home continually shifted between the extremes of North America's geography. I only had a few toys and a dog to distract me from my sketchpads and pencils. The constantly shifting juxtapositions and combinations of American heritage provided me with a curiosity for the multitude of ways in which people have incorporated their backgrounds into their foregrounds. This mechanism of developing Americana combined with my own upbringing as a bi-product of formerly-French Southern confederates crossed with Polish/Jew immigrants act as the springboard for my current explorations into the American condition.

My art is painted still life theatre that critically examines the historical, social, and political conditions that define the 21st century. The entire world is experiencing a fundamental shift away from the previously accepted status quo that man can only be truly aware of and responsible for: his immediate environment. Tribes of people previously isolated from each other by mountains, oceans, and deserts are converging, and are faced with a choice between assimilation or isolationism. All around us the primitive and the modern clash, and like a giant lava lamp they swirl and combine to create a new social fabric. My paintings attempt to capture and bottle that swirl. A common theme of this body of work is the use of costumes as substitutes for a characters' interaction with their environment. Each of these people is a direct extension of the environment, which they created for themselves to illustrate their own personal social condition."

Taxidermy Class, Rabbit
Date: June 23 & 24
Time: 11:00am - 7:00pm
Location: 766 Valencia Street, Conference Room

In this two-day comprehensive class, Leah Wade of Quiet Science Taxidermy Studio will demonstrate sophisticated techniques to create museum quality taxidermy. Using top notch materials, students will learn to create a stunning, lifelike rabbit mount that will last a lifetime. Each student will be provided with a clean, fully-prepared rabbit hide and a high quality custom-carved foam form. They will learn to sculpt realistic facial features, ears, and feet, then fit and sew the hide onto a sculpted form. Each student will then mount their form on a beautiful wooden base for display. The techniques demonstrated in this course can be applied to any prepared mammalian hide, large or small. All materials will be provided, and no experience is necessary. Students will keep their completed piece to be shared and treasured for years to come!

To sign up online, click here.

For more info stop by Paxton Gate or call 415.824.1872.

Sunday Streets Activities
Dates: Sundays in Summer
Location: Paxton Gate, 824 Valencia

Come get creative with us in the sun for Sunday Streets!
May 6th - Succulent terrariums $10

June 3rd - Hanging string gardens aka Kokedamas $10

July 1st - Eating and cooking bugs August 5th - TBA