Face and Body Painting for Families (In-Person)

In-Person: Family | This program is completed

20 Academy Street Arlington, MA 02476 United States

Main Classroom

All skill levels

4/9/2022 (one day)

10:00 AM-11:30 AM on Sat

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43.00 USD

Member Discount Available

Children and their adults alike will delight in this face and body painting class for families. Come prepared to paint on your child and be painted on by them! You’ll learn beginner and intermediate face painting techniques, while creating animal designs on one another’s faces and arms. In the process, we’ll also discuss different kinds of face paints, brushes, sponges, and other tools of transformation. For ages 6 – 12 with an adult (all children must be accompanied by an adult and have permission to participate from a legal guardian). One registration per person.

Please note: Supplies lists are written below. The instructor said if you do not have time to order the face paints online, there's "Snazaroo" face paints available at Michaels arts and crafts that you can use. You are welcome to bring your own brushes if you want, but we will provide some.

  • COVID Requirements
    ACA instructors and students (age 5+) enrolled in our indoor, in-person classes and workshops are asked to submit proof of full vaccination or negative COVID test at least three days in advance of the start of their program by completing our COVID Vaccination Form where they can upload a photo, scan, or digital record of your COVID vaccination card or vaccine record. For multi-session courses, students would be required to present a new negative COVID test prior to each class session.

    Email Communication Policy

    Please note that ACA will use the email address, which you provided at registration, as our primary means of communicating with you. In registering for an ACA program, you acknowledge that ACA has permission to email you with important updates, as well as information about upcoming events, programs and exhibition opportunities. Requests to be removed from our email mailing list must be sent to info@acarts.org. 

  • Your instructor provided the following list for families to do their own research and purchase what works best for them. ACA will also provide paper towels, surfaces for mixing paints, and cups for washing brushes.

    Here are the instructor's material suggestions for those who are buying their own supplies:

    Face and body paints can cause some people to have allergic reactions. Please do not register or participate if you have a history of skin allergies or other medical conditions that may cause complications. Ask your doctor in advance if you have any concerns.

    When buying paints and other supplies, safety is the most important thing. If you or your child has any history of skin allergies, or you are at all concerned, please check with a doctor before moving ahead with buying paints. Otherwise, for class, feel free to buy any face painting kit made from FDA-approved ingredients, just make sure it includes the colors black and white! However, even if you focus on safety and buy only paints with FDA-approved ingredients, there's still no guarantee a child or parent won't have an allergic reaction to paint. Please consider testing a small amount of the paint on your skin and that of your child (but not on the face or neck area) a few days before class starts.

    WolfeFX 6-Pack Essentials - retails for about $15. You can buy this lots of places online. I buy paints frequently from Jest Paint.

    Ruby Red Classic Palette - about $16. These can be bought directly from Ruby Red (
    https://rubyredpaint.americommerce.com/classic-palette.aspx) or a few other places online.

    The Wolfe palette is of sturdier construction and will hold up much better over multiple uses. However, if students have concerns about allergens, there may be other relevant differences between these two paints, so it’s good to offer both options. 

    I personally use TAG “regular” paints a lot, but their smallest starter palette is 12 regular paints for $42, so that’s a big price jump. 

    It would also be good for families to have at least one or two round brushes (nothing fancy) and at least 2 face painting sponges. Each of the kits above comes with a brush and the Ruby Red Kit also includes a sponge.


    About Clothes:
    Everyone should wear clothes they are comfortable with possibly getting stained. (I know, this probably sounds obvious!)
    Everyone should wear short sleeves if possible, so there’s room to paint on their arms as well as faces.
Meyerhoff, Shelby

Shelby Meyerhoff

ZOOMORPHICS STATEMENT, Exhibiting Artist for ACA's Integrated Cycles


In this series, I paint my own face and body, and photograph myself as creatures inspired by the natural world. The resulting images blur the line between what is human and what is not, drawing attention to our interconnection with all living things. Zoomorphics is an exploration of what it means to be human, to be an animal, and to love this world, even in the face of its destruction.


We humans are animals, dependent on our surrounding ecosystems. As those systems are threatened by climate change and other manmade crises, not only do other species face an existential threat, but we do as well. We are all endangered.


Yet despite the gravity of the environmental crises facing us, many of my Zoomorphics photographs are playful, colorful, and wondrous. I find beauty as well as grief in the relationship of humanity to the natural world.