Collage artist Michael Albert visited Cole Library and Lisbon Public Library Wednesday, July 27.
Albert, a New York native, was on his 58th day of a 67 day tour. When he reached Mount Vernon, he had already traveled more than 10,000 miles and held more than 100 programs.
He said collage art was one of the last things he thought he would be doing as an adult.
“As a kid, I was never really into art or that type of thing growing up,” Albert said. “I spent a lot of my time wrestling with my brothers and playing other sports.”
Albert graduated from New York University with a major in business studies, and was ready to help run his family business.
It was in his later adult years that Albert learned about different artists and found his passion for making collages of the boxes and other materials he found in his day job, finding new purposes for those items.
Albert reiterated to the youth who were in attendance that sometimes your hobbies and interests are going to be what fill your time outside of work, and spark the things that get you interested in doing more.
He also said he found out Van Gogh, the renowned artist of works like Starry Night, didn’t get his start as an artist until his late 20s.
Albert showcased prints of some of the murals he had created and explained that some of the more complex and involved murals take a longer time to create.
Working for a while for food companies, he had plenty of cardboard boxes that were going to recycling, so he had plenty of material for his art.
He highlighted different styles of collages – word based, floral patterns, and color based to encourage youth in attendance.
The other strong suit for collage art is that it relies heavily on recycling materials, like cardboard boxes, magazines, wrappers, items every kid may have lying around their house.
He urged those in attendance to think about their projects and then look through the cardboard to find what they need.
“My only rule when it comes to collaging for any artist is don’t apply the glue until you know what you are doing,” Albert said.
Albert said he has loved holding these programs at libraries because it is the perfect space for this type of program. They are safe spaces where people go to learn about all sorts of subjects, and attract people interested in different forms of art.
“The thing I love as well with watching kids with these projects is you never know what they are going to try,” Albert said.
Skylar Pasker works at cutting out some of the yellow color for her collage artwork.