Disney’s EPCOT is becoming a land of festivals, and 2018 brought the second annual Festival of the Arts; and as they get more experience hosting these events, they are continually making significant improvements which enhance the guest experience.
The five-week long festival running from January 12th to February 19th, saw opportunities galore for exploring your artist within, from culinary arts to musical performances, artist lectures, hands-on learning opportunities and just chances to meet and talk with a number of Disney artists and legends.
Dave Avanzino
Many of these opportunities were presented in a class-like setting. Most were free or had a small fee for materials. There were a few “premium” events that ran in excess of $250. This year, 3D artist Dave Avanzino came to EPCOT to teach his technique for creating unique works of art. We jumped at the chance to learn from one of our favorite Disney artists (ok, who are we kidding – he IS our favorite Disney artist!) His ability to create a work of art and make it stand out is what makes him our favorite. All of his work is “one of a kind” as they are each hand-created, even if he made 50 of them!
Debbie creating her work of art!
In Dave’s class, he taught us how he creates his 3D masterpieces using colorful paper, glue, foam core, matte board, clay, paint and ordinary objects. Everyone in this class created a “Mickey Ear Hat” that jumped off the page. He showed us how to wrap and glue the paper around an object to eliminate creases, and then how to combine the individual objects and prepare them to stand off the background. Then the finished product was framed for displaying at home.
At the end of the class, everyone was encouraged to put their art on display. It was interesting to see the different interpretations of the craft as there was no right or wrong end result.
We can’t wait to see what Disney does next year with this festival if this years’ improvements were any indication. We’re hoping Dave Avanzino brings back this class as well!
Finished artwork.
Thanks for the great review. I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the class. Hoping to do it again some time.
Thank you for the comment. If we are in the area, we definitely want to do this again.
Melvin