Laura Shabott's Art Lab: Experimental Cardboard

Saturday, December 13, and Sunday, December 14, 10:00 - 3:00 pm, with Laura Shabott and Sadie Griesmer

The month of December brings a lot of cardboard into people’s lives, so it is the perfect time to try out two and three-dimensional ideas with a found and readily available material. Do not demean cardboard as a valid and powerful medium. We will examine the work of artists who utilize this material extensively. Be ready to cut and score to create layered and/or dimensional pieces.

There will be two still life sets to work from for the class and each artist can bring their own with objects and florals or plants that have meaning. The fun will be in creating a play with scale, making flat materials 3-D, and learning how cardboard can be the study for a different material. At a time of year when there is pressure to be perfect, this is the perfect workshop to play with color, scale, and composition with like-minded others.

Each morning, we will have a handout, a discussion, and receive prompts for the day. You might have ideas to bring to the course, but be open to discovery. This is a gift to yourself!

We have scholarships! The Cape Cod Museum of Art is committed to making Art accessible to everyone in the Cape Cod Community. The Museum School Scholarship Fund provides tuition assistance to qualified, year-round Cape Cod residents ages 6 and up. Click here to apply.

A selection of the following: supplies in bold are required.

• One 18 x 24” sized white acid-free drawing pad with at least 25 sheets. Strathmore Windpower, XL Sketch are two of many options.

• Vine Charcoal: Grumbacher Soft 3-Sticks or Nitram Soft Fine Art Charcoal for example.

• One Artist's Chamois or purchase chamois at an automotive or hardware store.

• Two Faber-Castell kneadable art erasers

• Scrap papers/canvases (original or found papers or canvases to cut up)

• Painted papers: Painting on cardboard prior to class in different colors

• One acid-free glue stick: Avery, Blick, or 3M are good.

• Scotch Tape (temporary, any kind will do)

• Duct tape/painter’s tape

• White gesso

• Gloss or matte medium or clear gesso 

• Gesso brushes/junk brushes

• Acrylic paint and brushes or oil paint and brushes

• PVA or Elmer’s acid free glue

• Scissors

• Box cutter/X-Acto knife

• Gloss medium or clear gesso

• Gessoed cardboard

• Panels of birch or Masonite

• 140 lb. heavy paper; printmaking paper can handle a lot of medium

• Scrap fabrics

• Cardboard cut in various sizes of interest: 8 x 10 to table size of 30 x 60 or sculpture of various sizes.

• Prepare some of the cardboard with white or clear gesso on both sides.

• Collage materials: cardboard, papers, foils, newspapers, photographs and large areas of color to do cutouts, either construction papers or painted papers (make your own large color surfaces)

• Photographs (original is best).

• Old drawings, paintings to cut up

• Gloves, roll of paper towels, and plastic bags to line your car

• Color wheel

• Snacks, lunch, and drinks

[image credit: Laura Shabott, Untitled (detail) 2023, acrylic/staples on cardboard, experiment]

Laura Shabott is a graduate of School of Museum of Fine Arts at TUFTS, Boston, with multiple self-directed Returning Residencies at the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC), Provincetown. She is known for working directly from life using sweeping gestural forms, vibrant color and bold brushwork. Shabott’s post-college training at FAWC and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum is evident in her process-based approach. A studio artist, she is a gallerist, teacher and lecturer on the history of Provincetown art. From October 9, 2025, to January 25, 2026, Shabott will present her first solo show YOU ONLY GET ONE BODY: Art by Laura Shabott at the Cape Cod Museum of Art.

Sadie Griesmer is a multidisciplinary artist working in watercolor, acrylic paints, and ceramics. She is an arts educator presently teaching children in grades 5-8 in Haverhill, MA. Known for bright colors, playful imagery, and collaborative practices, Griesmer has the ability to question, explore narrative, and find inspiration in the everyday, which is evident in her practice. The artist/educator is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a concentration in Art Education and a minor in Art History, as well as coursework at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

You Only Get One Body: Art by Laura Shabott

October 9, 2025 - January 25, 2026

Exhibition Title Sponsor

Jeremiah Kaplan Foundation in Memory of Ann Kaplan

Cancellation policy: CCMoA must be notified 1 week prior for refund.