WORKSHOPS

Workshops are free to kids in the Birmingham area, but registration is required. Students may register to drop in for one workshop or attend all sessions. The grade levels listed below are meant as a guideline for parents to determine whether or not a workshop is suitable for their children. Students need to be able to read and write independently to attend DISCO workshops. Students are not permitted to use cellphones during workshops. For more information, please contact Liz Hughey at liz@desertislandsupplyco.com.

DISCO follows the Birmingham City School Calendar and Closings.

TUESDAYS FALL 2016

Cartographers Club
All ages are welcome, but students need to be able to read and write independently.
4 to 5:30 p.m.
Join us every Tuesday this fall as we map lands both real and imagined. Each week, we’ll set out on a map-making adventure, thinking about what makes maps useful tools and what kinds of maps we find most intriguing. We’ll explore the places we know well, like our homes and our neighborhoods, as well as places we’d love to visit in this world and in our imagination. Working individually and as a group, club members will develop a portfolio of maps, stories, and illustrations.

THURSDAYS FALL 2016

Comic Book Club
All ages are welcome, but students need to be able to read and write independently.
4 to 5:30 p.m.
Hang out with other comics/manga lovers, talk about your favorite books, share tips on drawing characters and learn from professional comic book artists and writers. Comic Club will explore how writers tell their own stories through comics, graphic novels, and many other creative ways. Club members will receive a journal for developing their art and writing, and collaborate to publish an anthology of their own work from 2016.

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Archive of previous workshops:

Mapper’s Delight
Grades 2-9 | March 2, 9, 16 & 23 | 4 to 5:30 pm
Join us every Wednesday in March as we map lands both real and imagined. Each week, we’ll set out on a map-making adventure. We’ll explore the places we know well, like our homes and our neighborhoods, as well as places we’d love to visit in this world and in our imagination. Participants will finish this workshop with a hand-bound collection of stories, maps and illustrations.

Poetry for Rebels and Rulebreakers
Grades 2-9 | April 6, 13, 20, & 27 | 4:30 to 6 pm
The Big Read is coming to DISCO for National Poetry Month! Birmingham-Southern College professor Lucas Johnson will talk about the poetry rebel Emily Dickinson. Then, seniors from the Alabama School of Fine Arts will lead rule-breaking poetry exercises. Workshops will be playful, experimental, and anything but boring! Each participant will receive a copy of The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Meet Your Maker: Exploring Writing through Making
Grades 3rd through 9th | January 19 & 26, February 2, 9, 16 & 23 | 4 to 5:30 pm
Origami and haikus! Robots and flash fiction! This winter at the Desert Island Supply Co., what we make will inspire what we write. We are partnering with MAKEbhm and Red Mountain Makers to offer six workshops in making and writing. Each Tuesday afternoon, an artist or designer will talk about her craft and then lead a hands-on activity, which will inspire a creative writing exercise.

Comic Book Club
All ages | January 21 & 28, February 4, 11, 18 & 25 | 4 to 5:30 pm
Hang out with other comics/manga lovers, talk about your favorite books, share tips on drawing characters and learn from professional comic book artists and writers. This winter, the Comic Book Club will explore how writers tell their own stories through comics and graphic novels. Club members will receive a journal for developing their art and writing, working toward the goal of creating their own comic books by the end of the season.

Besting the Blank Page: Turbo Pack
Grades 2nd through 9th | September 8, 15, 22 & 29 | 4 to 5:30 pm
In every session of this workshop, we’ll go through ten quick rounds of creative exercises and then settle down to work on one finished piece. Intended for both rookie writers and old pros, this workshop will jumpstart the imagination and banish fears of the blank page. At the end of the month, participants will have a finished piece and a stack of ideas for stories and poems. Each participant will also have at least one poem or story included in DISCO’s Lit Hits Fall 2015 Anthology.

Lit Houses: Exploring Homes in Great Books
Grades 2nd through 9th | October 6, 13, 20 & 27 | 4 to 5:30 pm
In this workshop, we’ll read stories with a strong sense of place, and then we’ll create and write about our own scale-model people, homes, landscapes and neighborhoods. Inspired by the Learning by Design program in Massachusetts and to coincide with Design Week Birmingham, this workshop will bring architects, artists and writers together to discuss great literary spaces and explore them through the creative process of design. Workshop models will on display at DISCO for Design Week Birmingham, October 9 through 24th.

DIY Band Camp: Making Music Out of Anything (and Everything)
Grades 4th through 12th | November 3, November 10, November 17, December 1 & December 8
4 to 5:30 pm
From instrument-making to song-writing, this workshop will cover everything you need to know to make your own music. Participants will build their own instruments out of everyday objects as they experiment with sound waves, pitch, and amplitude. Then, they’ll play with simple melodies and come up with fitting lyrics for their new songs. Each participant will record a song (together or as a group) to be broadcast on the DISCO website.

He Said She Said: Improv Acting and Playwriting
Grades 3-10 | March 2, 9, 16 & 23 (No workshop on March 30)
Calling all class clowns and family hams! In this workshop, we’ll use improv play and imaginative exercises as a springboard for creating new characters, plots and scenes. We will also read, watch and act out short plays to help us develop and write our own scripts. Each participant will have his or her short play included in DISCO’s Great Book of One-Act Plays.

Scraps & Snippets: Reviving the Commonplace Book
Grades 2-10 | March 3, 10, 17 & 24 (No workshop on March 31)
Long before Pinterest and Evernote, Commonplace books were used to gather and collect information on a particular theme. In this workshop, we’ll create our own commonplace books and fill them with ideas, quotes, poems, recipes, pressed flowers, found objects and personal observations. Jessica Peterson of The Southern Letterpress will teach us how to print and sew our commonplace books, which will be on display in the DISCO storeroom for the month of April.

Woodlawn High School StoryLab
This semester, Wednesdays at DISCO will be reserved for staff meetings of The Tattler, Woodlawn High School’s student-run newspaper. Staffers will work with local reporters, editors, photographers and designers to report, write, and edit stories for the school newspaper.

National Poetry Writing Month!
Grades 4-9 | April 6, 13, 20 & 27
This April, join Birmingham area poets for weekly workshops celebrating National Poetry Month. In addition to reading and writing poems, students will learn how to recite their poems out loud to an audience. Each participant will record a video of his or her poetry reading and receive a bound collection of the 2015 DISCO Poetry Anthology.

A Month of Trees
Grades 2-9 | April 7, 14, 21 & 28
April is also Earth Month, and in honor of our beautiful planet, we’ll speak for the trees. Arborist Katie Rogers will guide us through a study about forests and trees, and we’ll let our findings be the inspiration for our own poems, stories and art. Each student will help create and receive a bound copy of the Woodlawn Tree Guide.

The Meaning of Things: Stories in Everyday Objects
Grades 2-9 | January 26, February 2, 9 & 23 (No workshop on February 16th)
For this workshop series, we were inspired by Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn’s Significant Objects project. We will source a bunch of random objects from Mission: Possible, the thrift store across the street. During each session of this six-week series, each young writer will receive one of the objects and invent a story about it. All the stories will be collected in an anthology available through the Desert Island Supply Store. led by Liz Hughey.

Cirrusly: Finding Inspiration in the Clouds
Grades 2-9 | January 20 & 27, February 3, 10 & 24 (No workshop on February 17)
In this workshop, we’ll think on the nature of clouds, read about clouds (including the Cloud Appreciation’s Society manifesto), go outside and gaze at the clouds, and then let our discussions and findings be the inspiration for our own poems, stories and art. We’ll assemble all the cloud-inspired work into a book for each student to take home.

DECEMBER 2014: A TIME TO MAKE AND A TIME TO GIVE!

Monday, December 1: Poems that Dangle
We will make cool ornaments and garland.

Tuesday, December 2: The Weather Inside is Frightful
Snow globes in jars!

Wednesday, December 3: Diary of a Wintry Kid
We will craft homemade holiday journals.

Thursday, December 4: Things That Make You Go Ahhhh
Vanilla Salt Scrub. Lip Gloss. Party. (Workshop full.)

Monday, December 8: Southern Letterpress Day
Jessica Peterson and the art of holiday cards. (Workshop full.)

Tuesday, December 9: Put a Ring on It
Writing-inspired wreaths.

Wednesday, December 10: All that Flickers
Votives yo.

Thursday: December 11: Let it Grow
Finish strong with seed bombs.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: How to Create Memorable Villains
Grades 4-9 | November 3, 10, 17 & 24
Every story needs a good villain, and in this workshop series, we will look at different types of villains, from brutes and mad scientists to double agents and dragons. Then, we will tap into the power of the dark side to create our own memorable villains. All participants will receive a bound collection of their writing at the end of the month. – led by Liz Hughey

Wrestling with the Uncanny: Making Magical Realism
Grades 3-9 | November 4, 11, 18 & 25
Tuesday afternoons this November, fantasy invades reality as we explore the artistic tradition known as magical realism. We will talk about myths, fables, and lore, and then create art and stories in the magical realism tradition. All participants will receive a bound collection of their art and writing at the end of the month. – led by Liz Hughey & Daniel DeVaughn

How Science Can Save You on a Desert Island
Grades 2-9 | November 5, 12 & 19
Are you now or do you plan to be stranded on a desert island? If so, come learn how science can help you not just survive but enjoy your time as a castaway. We will do some fun hands-on science experiments and then use those experiments as starting points for some imaginative writing that we will compile into a how-to guide for other prospective castaways. All participants will receive a copy of the how-to guide. – led by Lauren Michal

Comic Book Club (Thursdays)
All ages | November 6, 13 & 20
Our first month of comic book club was so successful, we are keeping it going through the end of the year. Come hang with other comics/manga lovers, talk about your favorite books, share tips on drawing characters and learn from professional comic book artists and writers. We’ll have snacks, prompts and games, but we’ll also let the club members structure their time together and brainstorm on future comics/manga programs at DISCO.

Dystopia FTW!
October 6, 13, 20 & 27 (Grades 4-9)
Winter is coming, and on Mondays this month, we’ll wallow in metaphorical winter by looking into the future and imagining the worst possible outcomes. We’ll think about all the wonderful things about our planet and then consider the many ways human beings could ruin it. Fun! We’ll look at different versions of dystopia in literature, and then we’ll write our own dystopian stories. All participants will receive a bound collection of their writing at the end of the month. – led by Liz Hughey

Bored Games: Altering Landscapes with MAKEbhm and Design Week
October 7, 14, 21 & 28 (Grades 4-9)
To engage with the second annual Design Week Birmingham (October 20-25), DISCO will take MAKEbhm’s design challenge to create an interactive game that can be played in a public space in this city. Each workshop participant will receive a container of similar objects and then use the objects to create a place-based interactive game or exhibit. All completed games/exhibits will be shown off in a public display during Design Week. – led by staff and guest designers/artists

How Science Can Save You on a Desert Island
October 8, 15, 22 & 29 (Grades 2-9)
Are you now or do you plan to be stranded on a desert island? If so, come learn how science can help you not just survive but enjoy your time as a castaway. We will do some fun hands-on science experiments and then use those experiments as starting points for some imaginative writing that we will compile into a how-to guide for other prospective castaways. All participants will receive a copy of the how-to guide. – led by Lauren Michal

Comic Book Club
October 9, 16, 23 & 30 (All ages)
We constantly field requests for comics/manga workshops, and so this October, we are giving students who love comics/manga a time and place to meet, talk about their favorite books, share tips on drawing characters and learn from professional comic book artists and writers. We’ll have snacks, prompts and games, but we’ll also let the club members structure their time together and brainstorm future comics/manga programs at DISCO. – led by staff and guest artists/writers

Zoom!
September 8, 15, 22 & 29 (grades 4-9)
We’re getting back to our creative writing roots every Monday this semester at the Desert Island Supply Co. Join us for weekly workshops in poetry and fiction. For September, we’ll use Istvan Banyai’s classic book Zoom as inspiration to look at our world from a variety of angles. All participants will receive a bound collection of their poetry and prose at the end of the month. – led by Liz Hughey

Ceci Nést Pas Un Workshop
September 9, 16, 23 & 30 (grades 2-7)
In these weekly workshops, art and poetry meet and fall in love. We will use the process of sketching, painting and collage to help us discover inspiration for our creative writing. We will also study the photography and painting of established artists to find images and characters for our own poems and stories. All participants will receive a bound collection of their art and writing at the end of the month. – led by Liz Hughey

How Science Can Save You on a Desert Island
September 10, 17 & 24 (grades 2-9)
Are you now or do you plan to be stranded on a desert island? If so, come learn how science can help you not just survive but enjoy your time as a castaway. We will do some fun hands-on science experiments and then use those experiments as starting points for some imaginative writing that we will compile into a how-to guide for other prospective castaways. All participants will receive a copy of the how-to guide. – led by Lauren Michal

Desert Island Product Design
September 11, 18 & 25 (grades 4-9)
If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you need? We’ll brainstorm, sketch and prototype product ideas to sell in the Desert Island Supply Co. storefront. Local makers, inventors and designers will visit DISCO to lead us through creating, marketing and selling our own products. All participants will receive a catalogue of the workshop prototypes. – led by Lauren Michal

Mapping Mondays: Woodlawn Guidebook
May 5, 12, 19 & 26 (grades 4-9)
Write the quintessential guide to our neighborhood in this workshop as we visit what Woodlawn has to offer! Music, food, art and then some – we will do it all and more in May!

Bindcraft Tuesdays: ‘Zines
May 6, 13, 20 & 27 (grades 2-7)
Join us in May for the ultimate in self-publishing. Participants will unite with music fans, writers, comic book artists, citizen journalists, poets, and others of every stripe who are making, trading, and selling their creations. Participants will make enough ‘zines to trade with one another at the end of this workshop.

Writing Wednesdays: Adventure Stories
May 7, 14, 21 & 28 (grades 5-10)
We’re getting back to our roots every Wednesday this semester at DISCO. This May, join us as we explore writing adventure stories. Participants will craft one amazing story in this workshop.

MAKE Thursdays: Collaboration with MAKEbhm
May 8, 15, 22 & 29 (grades 2-7)
We are partnering again with our friends at MAKEbhm for an exciting workshop on making in May. We’ll explore new tools and techniques and make an awesome piece of sculpture in this hands-on workshop.

Mapping Mondays: Handmade Globes
April 7, 14, 21 & 28 (grades 4-9)
Go three-dimensional (thanks, in part, to Pythagoras, Plato and Magellan) in this mapping workshop. Participants will help create a DISCO globe and will create an imaginary world and a globe to take home.

Bindcraft Tuesdays: A Pop-Up Book
April 8, 15, 22 & 29 (grades 2-7)
Plants aren’t the only things popping up this spring at DISCO. Learn four pop-up paper folding and cutting techniques in this workshop and create a pop-up book using all four!

Writing Wednesdays: Celebrating National Poetry Month
April 9, 16, 23 & 30 (grades 4-9)
We’re getting back to our roots every Wednesday this semester at DISCO. This April, join Liz Hughey for weekly workshops celebrating National Poetry Month. Participants will create a bound collection of poetry at the end of the month.

Gardening Thursdays: Food Stories
April 3, 10, 17 & 24 (grades 2-7)
Join us in April for an exploration of Cornerstone’s garden, food experiments and recipes and more in this reprise of a DISCO favorite: Food Stories!

Science Mondays: Seeds & Stories
March 3, 10, 17 & 24 (grades 3-9)
In honor of the Spring Equinox, which heralds the first day of spring, we’re going to explore Botany in this Science Monday workshop. From planting seeds (and watching them grow) to identifying flower and plant characteristics, this workshop will excite any budding naturalist. Participants will take home a seedling and a botanical journal at the end of this workshop.

Travel Tuesdays: Invisible Cities
March 4, 11, 18 & 25 (grades 3-9)
Inspired by Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, take a journey each week in this workshop. Expand your horizons and stretch your mind through exploration of cities real and imagined and illustrate the stories you hear. Then, create your own invisible city. Participants will finish this workshop with a hand-bound collection of stories, maps and illustrations.

Writing Wednesdays:
March 5, 12, 19 & 26 (grades 3-9)
We’re getting back to our roots every Wednesday this semester at Desert Island Supply Co. This March, join us for weekly workshops in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. You’ll create a bound collection of your poetry and prose at the end of the month.

Mapper’s Delight: In collaboration with MAKEbhm
March 6, 13, 20 & 27 (grades 3-9)
DISCO is excited to introduce a new collaboration with MAKEbhm, a maker’s space located in North Avondale. In this workshop, particpants will help create a map sculpture of Alabama with a twist. Please note: two sessions will be held at MAKEbhm. Further details will be emailed once registration is complete.

Bindcraft Mondays: Pop-up Storybook Theater & Puppets
February 3, 10, 17 & 24 (grades 3-9)
Be your own playwright, actors, director and set designer in this workshop. Join us as we write a play or story and create a one-of-a-kind pop-up theater and puppets for it!

Text Isle Tuesdays: Sew A Superhero & Side-Kick
February 4, 11, 18 & 25 (grades 3-9)
Everyone has a superhero inside, just waiting to save the day. And every superhero needs a side-kick. Join us every Tuesday to create your superhero persona. Then, we will stitch a superhero mask and a side-kick to go with your superhero. No sewing experience necessary, but interest in sewing a major plus!

Writing Wednesdays:
February 5, 12, 19 & 26 (grades 3-9)
We’re getting back to our roots every Wednesday this semester. This February, join Liz Hughey for weekly workshops in poetry, fiction and non-fiction. You’ll create a bound collection of your poetry and prose at the end of this workshop.

Mapping Thursdays:
February 6, 13, 20 & 27 (grades 3-9)
Do you have a young cartographer in your household? Join us every Thursday in February as we map lands both real and imagined. We will create a log of these explorations in one handily bound scroll.