Meet Meri Cherry

The Kid Made Modern Monthly Craft Club brings art class to your home! We designed it in collaboration with art educator and process-art enthusiast, Meri Cherry. Each month, your crafter will receive a new craft box with all the materials you need to complete your project. 

Read on for more from Meri Cherry and how we collaborated on a series of fun and engaging kits to spark your child's imagination. 

 

Tell us a bit about yourself and how Meri Cherry Art Studio came to be. 

 

Hi! I’m Meri Cherry. Yes, that’s my real name. I married a Cherry and became Meri Cherry for life. I started teaching Process Art playgroups and art classes in my backyard and private homes throughout Los Angeles almost 8 years ago and soon grew my side hustle into a full-blown career. I opened Meri Cherry Art Studio over 4 years ago and have been hosting birthday parties, private events, classes, ladies craft nights, and toddler art playgroups ever since.

How did the collaboration on Kid Made Modern Craft Club come together? Tell us about the process. 

I have always admired Kid Made Modern. Right before the pandemic, I made a list of my top five companies I’d love to work with in 2020. Kid Made Modern was at the top of the list.

To my incredible surprise, I got an email a few months from Danielle, the Creative and Marketing Director, asking if I’d like to partner on a subscription box service focusing on Process Art. I couldn’t believe it! And now, seven months later, here we are.

Side note, I highly recommend writing down your hopes and dreams. You never know when they may appear. 

 

The first month’s kit is all about building a diorama house. What crafting techniques will kids explore with this Craft Club kit? 

I love the diorama house. As soon as we started talking about the fun box all the materials would come in, I had a vision of it all decked out as an actual house. There is tons of cutting, gluing, decision making, and designing happening in this box. It’s super fun to create with all kinds of special surprises to play with, including your own disco ball!

 

Why is open-ended crafting so important for kids? 

At Meri Cherry Art Studio, we define Process Art as art that’s all about the making and the doing, rather than the finished product. We prescribe to this idea as a core value woven into everything we do at Meri Cherry. 

Kids are so structured and over-scheduled these days. Process Art allows them to explore their own thoughts, ideas, and decisions without a particular idea or way of doing something being held as the ideal. Our belief is that through this exploration of creativity, kids learn about who they are and feel confident and empowered. 

 

As an art teacher, can you share a few ways that parents can encourage creativity in their kids? 

Art doesn’t have to be complicated to be fun and engaging. It can be as simple as setting out a watercolor palette, paper, and brush on a tray at the kitchen table.

I believe in giving kids high-quality art supplies and real tools whenever possible. You’d be shocked to see how engaging a stapler or hole puncher can be as an invitation to create for a 4-year-old. Of course, I always consider safety first but I firmly believe that if we raise the bar for our children, they will rise to it and often exceed our expectations, as well as their own.