English speaking courses at vhs Stuttgart – my personal highlights

Hand lettering for kids (April 6, 2019)

vhs stuttgart also offers courses for kids. One of them is Hand lettering where the little students design their own greeting card.

more about Hand lettering for kids

Swabian Humor for Beginners (April 11, 2019)

This is a course I am looking forward to in particular. I know that most people think Germans don’t get the concept of humor. And this prejudice is even worse when it comes to us Swabians 🙂 But this course will proof them all wrong. The event will be held by Christiane M., trainer and comedian, who will introduce you to odd habits and the hidden humor of an ancient funny German culture.

more about Swabian Humor for Beginners

Yoga (May 7, 2019)

When you love Yoga prefer to be taught in English this is your class. Practice classical Hatha-Yoga in an international and relaxing atmosphere at vhs stuttgart.

more about Yoga

Whisky Tasting (May 17, 2019)

Why do some single malts taste smoky? Why do others taste of vanilla and honey? Enjoy an entertaining evening with interesting legends, facts and stories about our six selected Single Malt Whiskys and enjoy pictures and music from Scotland in a sociable environment.

more about Whisky Tasting

Qigong (between June 25. and July 23, 2019)

If you need something to bring you down, relax you and make you more focused, Qigong is your thing. It comprises slow movements that are integrated with conscious breathing and focused attention

more about Qigong

Empower yourself by Thinking like a Drag Queen (July 7, 2019)

This is another course I can’t wait to join. It offers you a practical guide to grow by learning lessons taught by drag queens. You will learn five keys to channel your inner queen: creating the person you always wanted to be, power dressing and -posing, how to quiet inner and outer critics and why it’s important to start taking small risks to boost yourself to taking even bigger ones. Shouldn’t we all be a bit more drag?!

more about Empower Yourself by Thinking Like a Drag Queen

Stuttgart for women (July 10, 2019)

Moving to a new city in a different country can sometimes be a daunting experience. This class will help you settle in as it will focus on a range of important topics such as transportation, housing, school system and more.

more about Stuttgart for women

Handmade Ravioli (July 22, 2019)

Who doesn’t like pasta?! In this course you will learn how to prepare handmade pasta. A glass of wine and some nice antipasti might also come into play… 🙂

more about Handmade Ravioli

Watercolor painting (July 20, 2019)

Watercolor painting is not just for small children. It’s actually an art in itself. In this course you will get to know most watercolor techniques, materials as well as some basics of color theory, drawing, perspective and composition.

more about Watercolor painting

Sommerspektakel: Dinner & Dialogue (July 30, 2019)

Summer in the city! As part of the 100 years of vhs summer week celebrations, the last Dinner and Dialogue will take place at the Ökostation, the vhs’s department for environmental classes. Join us for an end-of-semester talk around the barbecue in the public gardens in the north of the city!

more about Sommerspektakel: Dinner & Dialogue

More information about the English speaking courses at vhs stuttgart

For more information about all English speaking courses at vhs stuttgart visit vhs-stuttgart.de or download the brochure here (PDF)

Transparency: This post is part of my non-paid partnership with vhs stuttgart. The opinion and recommendations shared here are my own.

Title picture: canva.com

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Micha Ullman is an Israeli artist and was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart between 1991 and 2005. While he lived in Stuttgart, he created several artworks, three of them are known (or better, not know to many people :-)) as Minimente. And one Miniment is New Moon in front of castle Solitude.

The name Miniment is perfectly chosen for those artworks. They are not monuments, standing somewhere tall in the landscape, screaming “look at me” at everyone close by. Ullmans Minimente are tiny and even if you know where they are supposed to be, you need to look really hard to find them (friends of mine gave up after looking for them for ten minutes and even I had to ask in the museum shop if someone can show me the New Moon 🙂 ). But that is part of their fascination! 🙂 When you have found them finally you feel like a member of a secret club!

But what is the New Moon you might ask now. It consists of 29 little holes in the floor. They look the differnt shapes of the moon – from full moon to crescent moon. The tiny moons are arranged in a circle of nearly 16 meters in radius and represent the circle of the moon. When the sun moves over castle Solitude and the New Moon, the walls of the 29 moon shaped holes throw tiny shadows. So the artwork changes every day and every minute with the change of the light and the seasons.

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The concept of ArtNight is as simple as it is brilliant: ArtNight offers painting workshops in cooperation with local artists in changing locations like bars and restaurants. The workshop themes change regularly too, from Van Gogh via Roy Lichtenstein to Banksy and so on. My friend Rachel from rachelsanghee.com and I chose the workshop “Paint like Paul Klee” which was held at Weinstube Kachelofen, a restaurant I haven’t visited before either.

The workshop started at 6 pm on a Monday night and lasted for two hours. When we arrived, a separate room was booked for us and canvas, brushes and paint awaited us on the tables.

Our host of the night was Kira, a young local artist. She explained how we should start our painting (eg. drawing squares of one colour after the next at the beginning helps to keep the colours bright) but didn’t give instructions all the time which I liked a lot. This gave Rachel and me the opportunity to chat the evening away while painting.

And here it is, tatatataaaaa, my masterpiece:

I really enjoyed the workshop. The atmosphere is cozy and relaxing. It’s not about who makes the best copy of the original painting. Everybody is there for the fun and want’s to have a great time. There’s enough time to chat with your friends or to get to know your neighbour and maybe make new friends. You can also order drinks and food while painting. Just note that this is not included in the price of the workshop. As Kira speaks English, you can participate in ArtNight Stuttgart even if you don’t speak German.

Thank you Kira and ArtNight Stuttgart for the great evening! I’ll definitely be back soon.

More information about:

ArtNight

Atelier Kira (only in German)

Weinstube Kachelofen (only in German)

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DEKUMO 2014 is a temporary platform for artists and designers. Most of them have their studios in Stuttgart and many are still one-man enterprises and not huge brands. Thus, you’ll find things at DOKUMO you won’t find anywhere else.

Looovely stuff! I could have spend a fortune… Only the fact, that some artists didn’t accept credit cards saved me…

At the end, we discovered the kids corner… and had lot’s of fun there, too

DEKUMO 2014 is on until Sunday, 8th of December. The fair is open until 8pm tonight and tomorrow from 10 am to 6 pm. Entrance fee: 8 Euro for adults, families pay 14 Euro

You find the DEKUMO close to Milaneo Shopping center, U-Bahn-station “Stadtbibliothek (Handwerkskammer)” at:

Kulturniederlassung SÜDWEST
Türlenstraße 2
70191 Stuttgart

More information:

DEKUMO 2014 (only in German)

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Staatsgalerie Stuttgart consists of two main buildings: The Old Staatsgalerie…

…with a statue of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg in front of it…

…and the New Staatsgalerie. And this building is a piece of art itself:

Designed by James Stirling, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart opened its doors in 1984. And since then, the rolling green glass front and the pink tubes made it to one of the top  landmarks of Stuttgart.

Now that we have appreciated Staatsgalerie Stuttgart from the outside, let’s step in.

What every guest notices straight away is the green floor…

… and the colour green being repeated in other architectonical elements.

But the Staatsgalerie has more to offer than its architecture. You find about 800 works in the permanent exhibition. Event though the focus lies on art of the 20th century, those of you who like the old masters won’t be disappointed, neither.

Let me introduce you some of my most favorite pieces of art:

Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Frank Stella, The Forge, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Pietro Belletti, The Fate Lachesis, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

For me, this painting is really special. Look at her face, the wrinkles, the look in her eyes… amazing.

Pietro Belletti, The Fate Lachesis, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Theodor Christoph Schüz, Noontime Prayer at Harvest Time, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Theodor Christoph Schüz, Noontime Prayer at Harvest Time, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Claude Monet, Fields in Spring, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Pablo Picasso, Bathers, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Roy Lichtenstein, Spray, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

When talking about Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, you have to talk about Joseph Beuys, as they do have an interesting selection of this work on display. Well, I think his installations are quite interesting, but you have to invest some time and thoughts to get his ideas. Moreover, an audio guide or a tour do help a lot …

Joseph Beuys, Crucifixion, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Last but not least, my favourite piece of art:

Duane Hanson, Cleaning Lady, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Nope, she’s not real, she’s an installation! I love her. Years ago, the saying goes, she was sitting next to a window and after the gallery had closed, some walkers saw her from the outside, sitting in the dark all by herself. They called the police to rescue the poor lady…

Ok, enough art! After you’ve spent some hours at the great exhibition, you have deserved a refreshment! Make sure to visit café “Gast”. It’s on the ground floor, behind the wardrobe.

My recommendation: Sparkling wine with cassis sorbet! Hmmmmmm… best way to finish a great day at the museum.

Fun fact: If you want to learn German, you can do so while enjoying art! Staatsgalerie Stuttgart offers special tours for study groups.

More information about:

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Language studies (only in German)

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