Big Dream Creative Arts Studio

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United States
Manheim, PA
Big Dream Creative Arts Studio

Private & group instruction in art, voice, & instrument lessons. Also offering open studio hours, project hours, summer camps & birthday parties.

Weekly Art Lessons (birth-adult)
Monday evening 4:30-8
Tuesday Theme Day 9-12
Wednesday Open Studio 9-12
Friday Theme Day 9-12
Project Hours (School aged kids-adult)
Friday & Saturday 6-9pm
Open Studio (Birth -12 years)
Saturday 9-12
* Private Music Lessons By Appointment*

06/29/2025

I’m repurposing my coffee grounds this morning to dirty up the canvas in the back of our treasure map! It’s the perfect dye color and the map smells amazing too! ☕️🗺️🏴‍☠️

Excited to see more? Join us July 12th & 13th for the premiere of ‘Steven the Pirate’
Tickets can be purchased at the door or through this link:
https://www.itickets.com/events/483395

06/27/2025

I absolutely love when we are able to repurpose and reuse items from past shows- and the kids love it too!

This script called for a statue of a ‘coconut with only one eye’. We thought about adding it to the art on our digital backdrop but then remembered our Enoch sculpture from Halloween! (Which was actually made from a hand made giant cauldron from a previous show!) He’s the perfect size & shape to use as the statue and how fun to have a physical piece to roll on stage!

We knew we didn’t want to loose Enoch forever so we created a slipcover so the coconut can be removed and Enoch can be back in the courtyard for Halloween again this year! We hit up a local craft thrift store and found the perfect fabric, drafted a patterned and got to work sewing the coconut skin. We used some burlap to paint the face and hot glued it to the coconut along with some rope to tie it up (had to cover up Enoch’s black cat!) 🥥🎃🎭

Excited to see more? Join us July 12th & 13th for the premiere of ‘Steven the Pirate’
Tickets can be purchased at the door or through this link:
https://www.itickets.com/events/483395

06/26/2025

When working on sets & props for children’s theater, I love the idea of keeping supplies accessible to kids & families. I want them to recognize the cardboard tubes, pool noodles, plastic table cloths, newspapers, & cardboard boxes and think- ‘hey! I could make that!’

It doesn’t hurt that a lot of these items are also free and community theater is always on a tight budget! I love taking my props list to local thrift shops, hardware & dollar stores and flexing those creative muscles to see what we can create on a dime!

We made 14 palms ranging from 7-12 feet for this show! We used free carpet tubes covered in (hand-fringed) brown tissue paper and kraft paper. Then we used foam wreath forms, pool noodles, and foam footballs in a combination on the tops of the trees. Once we have the trees moved over to the stage we will attach our leaves, coconuts,
& banana bunches to the tree tops.

Our leaves were made of cut paper that we hot glued to various sizes of skewers for support. The idea is to poke them right into the foam when we’re ready to attach them to the tree tops.

The bananas are made of empty toilet paper tubes and newspaper that we paper mached yellow crepe paper and green & brown tissue paper over.

All in all, the trees were made of free or low cost supplies that are repurposed or recyclable! 🎉🌴🏴‍☠️

Excited to see more? Join us July 12th & 13th for the premiere of ‘Steven the Pirate’
Tickets can be purchased at the door or through this link:
https://www.itickets.com/events/483395

06/25/2025

What’s a pirate musical without piles of treasure?! This was SO FUN to make! I gathered a few chests & sacks and got creating!
I started by lining the chests and sacks with cardboard boxes stuffed full of newspaper. I knew I wanted to use expanding foam for the top layer but wanted something stable underneath. And by using a cardboard boxes as a base we can lift the treasure right out of its vessel if we need the chests for something else. After the foam hardened, I hit it with some gold paint and a layer of mod podge and glitter. After that dried it was time to add the BLING! I collected glittered Easter eggs, Mardi Gras beads, giant gem diving toys, plastic rhinestones, & party favor rings from thrift & dollar stores to add the top layer. I can not wait to see how these sparkle under the stage lights! ✨🎭🏴‍☠️

Excited to see more? Join us July 12th & 13th for the premiere of ‘Steven the Pirate’
Tickets can be purchased at the door or through this link:
https://www.itickets.com/events/483395

06/24/2025

We’re just 3 weeks away from the premiere of the brand new youth musical ‘Steven the Pirate’! There’s A LOT going on behind the scenes so we thought it’d be fun for you to get a peek at the process of bringing this show to life!

Working on a show that’s comprised of completely brand new content means constantly flexing our creative muscles. There’s no previous material to watch or look at for guidance, no research to do or forums on what worked best. We’re tasked with figuring it out- step by step- which can be particularly tricky working with younger cast members as they can be concrete and literal thinkers! Vision casting can be a challenge when there’s nothing for them to reference!

We share our rehearsal space so we aren’t able to tape up the floors or bring in props or set pieces until tech week. Blocking them into a scene they struggle to envision can be a bit of a road block- until this year! We got thinking outside of the box and had Aiden create a set from LEGO that we could bring to rehearsal. It’s been both fun and super helpful to ‘see’ the scene as we teach the material to our actors!

Excited to see more? Join us July 12th & 13th for the premiere of ‘Steven the Pirate’
Tickets can be purchased at the door or through this link:
https://www.itickets.com/events/483395

03/18/2025

We’re super excited to announce our next youth musical! Auditions are coming up next month! 🎉🎭🏴‍☠️

🎭⚓️ AUDITIONS OPEN – Join the Crew of Steven the Pirate! ⚓️🎭

Calling all young adventurers! Auditions are now open for Steven the Pirate: The Real Story—a bold, action-packed youth musical full of mystery, music, and high-seas excitement!

🏴‍☠️ Seeking performers ages 10-18
🎶 Sing, act, and bring swashbuckling characters to life!

📅 Audition Date: Saturday April 26
📍 Location: Millen Room @ The Junction Center, Manheim PA

Ready to set sail? Sign up now! All details can be found in the links below and in our bio.

https://m.signupgenius.com/ #!/showSignUp/8050B49AEA92AA0F49-55065505-steven

02/22/2025

We inherited this cabinet with the house. It’s old & heavy and has no back but it’s sturdy! And free! Cabinet measures 6’9.5” long, 30” high, and 23.5 deep. It’s sitting outside Big Dream Creative Arts Studio (2 N Charlotte St, Manheim) *no holds, 1st to pick it up takes it!*

01/11/2025

Super excited to get started on this show! 🎉Today is the final day to get your kiddos signed up!

A🎙️✨ Meet the Dream Team Behind Mystery On The Airwaves! ✨🎙️

🔍 Get ready to step back in time to the golden era of radio with our thrilling 1940s-inspired youth musical! It’s all possible thanks to this phenomenal production team:

🎭 Steven Courtney – The mastermind behind it all! As our Producer, Playwright, and Music Director, Steven brings captivating stories, toe-tapping tunes, and unmatched creativity to life.

🎨 Kami Deppen – Our Artistic Director extraordinaire! Kami’s vision shapes every dazzling moment, ensuring this show will leave you speechless.

💃 Erika Lundgren – The heartbeat of the stage as Choreographer. Erika’s dynamic dance moves and coaching will make our youth cast move like stage superstars!

📋 Annelise Deppen – Our rockstar Stage Manager! With precision and care, Annelise keeps the magic running like clockwork behind the scenes.

✨ This talented crew is bringing passion, innovation, and a whole lot of fun to Mystery On The Airwaves. Don’t miss this unforgettable journey into the world of radio mysteries!

📅 Stay tuned for show dates and ticket info!
📍 Presented by Steven Courtney Productions & Big Dream Players

📸 Tag your theater-loving friends and share the excitement!

01/06/2025

Our snow day was a bit of a dud but these little yeti & snowman snowball buddies exceeded my expectations! ❄️⛄️❤️

01/05/2025

🧶I love dabbling in fiber art. Sewing, embroidery work, macrame, weaving-it all makes me want to learn more! My great grandma tried to teach me tatting when I was visiting her in Kansas in my early teens. I failed miserably & am still sad I never learned that from her. Ten years later, I tried my hand at knitting when I was pregnant with Elise. That didn’t end well & Ben was out a Christmas gift that year. 😂 Everyone told me to try crochet but the counting and looping and the -oh so important-tension just felt too intimidating and stressful. My brain could just not visualize how to do any of it! But this summer I was at one of my favorite discount stores & saw a crochet kit and was inspired to give it a try. I immediately cracked it open and very quickly learned that I needed to invest in a sturdy hook & that written instructions were not going to be my best method of learning. It took hours of ripping out stitches and You Tube videos to figure out the very basics & that I’m a lefty (I’m a little ambidextrous but NOT with crochet) which is a bit of a set back since most instructions and tutorials are right handed. That is until we figured out how to screen record the tutorials and flip them in my camera roll 🎉 how’s that for a lefty pro-tip?! Fast forward to the shorter days November brings and cozy time on the couch made practicing fun. By mid-December something clicked & I had some gifts to give that I was actually proud of!

People who are good at things make it look easy. We think we can just pick it up & do it. But success isn’t like that- it s long game. It’s failing and putting it down and coming back to it and trying again (or again and again and again in my case! 😂)

So if you’ve thought about it, been interested in it, been inspired by it, said ‘I could do that.’ -DO IT. ❤️Put in the time, do the research. Fail. Enjoy the baby steps towards success. Put it down, pick it back up again. Let it span decades of learning and failing and trying again. Do it because you like it. Because it relives stress or fills your creative bucket. Do it with your eye on your own goal because someone else will always do it faster or better. Do it because learning something new means passing it along to the next generation. It doesn’t matter why you do it, or when-if-how well you complete it- just give it a go! 😍🎨

Address

2 North Charlotte Street
Manheim, PA
17545

Website

http://www.bigdreamarts.com/

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