Grades: 6 – 12
Best Format: One workshop / single visit
Focus: Recycled and salvaged-material art, creative problem-solving, hands-on making
About Christopher
Christopher Allen moved to Santa Cruz in 1996 to attend UC Santa Cruz. After graduating, he spent 13 years working in education as a substitute teacher, private tutor, classroom teacher, and eventually vice-principal at a private school. In 2013, he began a new phase of his life focused on making art. He moved to Washington in 2017 and currently lives in Port Angeles.
Inspired by the natural surroundings of Santa Cruz and the Puget Sound region, particularly the ocean and forest, Christopher creates art from recycled and salvaged materials. Beginning with bottles, his work expanded to include electrical wiring, salvaged fencing and barn wood, barbed wire, bicycle parts, corrugated metal, electronic circuitry, and materials found in free piles and through Craigslist Free.
Christopher is interested in making art from things that might otherwise be thrown away or left unused, and in the juxtaposition of the natural world with industrial, human-made materials. His guiding idea is: Art is Everywhere!
What Students Can Explore
Christopher’s workshops focus on creating the best possible project based on each student’s skill and participation level. With more time, students can build creative confidence, create original work, and build stronger classroom relationships.
Students get the most from Christopher’s teaching when: “They actively participate.”
In Christopher’s classroom, students: “Are expected to perform to the best of their ability.”
Christopher focuses on helping students: “Create the best possible project based on their skill and participation levels.”
Students leave with: “A finished product they can be proud of.”
Teaching Experience
General education classrooms, inclusion classrooms, self-contained special education classrooms, resource rooms, Life Skills classrooms, and Highly Capable programs.
Learner Needs Christopher Can Adapt For
Students with IEPs, students with 504 Plans, neurodivergent learners, English Language Learners, students with physical disabilities, sensory accommodations, communication differences, emotional or behavioral supports, mixed-age classrooms, beginning learners, and advanced learners.
Best Learning Environments
Traditional classrooms, art rooms, small-group instruction, and whole-class instruction.
Helpful Information + Teacher Support
Student age and grade level, class size, accessibility needs and accommodations or learning supports, teacher participation during the workshop, and information about the space, materials, or technology available.
Contact + Artist Information
Email: allen451@hotmail.com
Phone: 831-234-4250
Website: www.bottleworks451.com
Instagram: @bottleworks451
