Animation Playshop

Create, Play, and Animate Together

*Melissa McClung teaches the history of animation at Animation Playshop. (2025)*

Gather around the table with fellow animators of all ages for a monthly celebration of moving images, made by hand.

Led by award-winning filmmaker and animator Melissa McClung, professor at UMass Amherst, this welcoming workshop invites you to bring your imagination and leave with an animated short, no experience required.

Each month, new and familiar faces come together in a spirit of playful experimentation. Using found materials from the office, treasures brought from home, or simply whatever the imagination conjures, participants bring objects to life frame by frame. Playdough, paper, people, puppets—if you can move it, you can animate it.

Melissa guides the way with warmth and expertise, helping you accomplish whatever idea you arrive with, no matter how ambitious or whimsical. Nothing is off the table. Want to make your coffee mug dance? Let's figure it out. Have a story about a lost button finding its way home? She'll help you tell it.

The session begins with a brief journey through animation history, illustrated with helpful slides. Melissa shares examples of her own work, alongside clips from animation artists who have inspired her. Then it's your turn. By the end of class, you'll have your own animated short to take home—and likely a few new friends who love making things as much as you do.

All ages welcome. No experience necessary. Just bring your curiosity, and maybe a funny-looking object from home.

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