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Don’t Miss the Food Mascot Student Art Show This Month at the Deli!

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Zingerman’s poster artist Anne Kellogg works with a students at the Ann Arbor Art Center

Ever seen a nerdy taco? Well, now is your chance! Upstairs at the Deli, all throughout September, you can check out the Food Mascot Student Art Show, where along with math-loving Mexican food, you’ll also get a glimpse of dancing cheese, sushi with attitude and much, much more.

The exhibit is a collaboration between Zingerman’s and Ann Arbor Art Center. As part of their recent Summer Creativity Camp, the center hosted Food for Thought, a week-long session exploring our favorite subject: food! The kids who attended designed candy packaging, created sculptures, and with the help of Zingerman’s poster artist Anne Kellogg, they also spent a day animating food.

A long time fan of Zingerman’s art work, AAAC Youth Programs Manager, Jean Spindler, was really excited to have Kellogg teach the class. The fact that Zingerman’s art is done by hand was an added bonus.

“One of our goals for the program is to expose kids to a wide variety of working artists. When they meet and talk to a real-life working artist, it makes a career in art more accessible,” says Spindler. “It opens their minds to the possibilities out there and gives them the confidence that this person is doing it and with hard work, they can too.”

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Kellogg tells us she had a blast. “They seemed to really enjoy it! I had fun, too, and definitely came away with a renewed respect for teachers and people who work with children every day. They were incredibly creative and were especially–this was a surprise to me–excited about Zingerman’s and about the art exhibit,” she says.

To help explain the process of animating food, Kellogg brought along a half wheel of Manchego cheese. With that as a visual, the class discussed a few tricks of the trade, including the importance of giving food distinct personalities and creating clear settings for the characters. Then, the students got a chance to create their very own food mascots to be featured in the exhibit.

Though the choices were difficult, “Best in Show” ribbons were awarded to some of the works by the Deli MerchandiZing Collective. However, all the food mascots are fantastic–don’t miss the chance to see them for yourself this month!

Check out some pictures from the Food for Thought class below:

 

The Food Mascot Student Art Show is a free exhibit upstairs at Zingerman’s Delicatessen until September 30.