Making Art Together Collage

Happy Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!

Diana MacKenzie
March 20, 2012

Today, March 20th, is very special to us here at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and that’s because it’s the day each year that we celebrate Very Hungry Caterpillar Day in honor of one of Eric Carle’s most beloved picture book characters. This past Sunday, we pulled out all the stops for our fuzzy green friend and invited everyone to join us for art making, cookie eating, story listening, and the chance to win some fun prizes!

A younger and older guest in the Art Studio smiling while making collaged mixed-media caterpillars.
In the Studio, we challenged visitors to create their own version of The Caterpillar using an assortment of found materials. Here are just a few examples of what kids and adults glued together!
An artwork of a caterpillar made out of bottle caps and self-adhesive foam.
A caterpillar artwork with a straw for antennae, body made from bottle caps, and paper grass.
A caterpillar face made out of papers and circular plastic reflectors.
A mixed-media collage of a caterpillar created from paper, plastic caps, straws, and corks.
A caterpillar mixed-media collage where the body segments are made from bottle caps filled with crumpled tissue paper.
A small caterpillar mixed-media collage on a large piece of cardboard.
A mixed-media collage of a caterpillar created with yarn, plastic caps, and cork, with a paper lollipop in front of it.
An abstract caterpillar mixed-media collage with green and red plastic caps on brown cardboard.
A mixed-media caterpillar collage with lots of colorful layered circular caps.
A mixed-media caterpillar collage with paper foods and a sun.
An abstract caterpillar collage made from foam pieces and a plastic reflector.
I love the variety of ways visitors used the mix of bottle caps, ribbons, paper, foam, corks and odds & ends. If you missed the party on Sunday, make your own Caterpillars with any found materials and email me a photo of the finished sculpture! In case you don’t own your own copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, you can check out this link to Eric Carle reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar on the Penguin Young Readers YouTube channel. Happy VHC Day!
Diana, smiling wearing an orange scarf and brown shirt.

Diana MacKenzie

Public Art Program Educator from 2007-2016, Diana has a BFA in Printmaking from Syracuse University and creates mixed-media works inspired by her travels, combining her interests in printmaking and sculpture. She received her M.A.T. from Mount Holyoke College in June 2017, and continues teaching visual arts to children and adults.
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