Anyone can bring CRE8 to their place. Host a workshop, run one, or start today with a kit.
Anyone can host a CRE8 workshop: artists, art teachers, educators, volunteers, parents. You too.
You don't need to be an artist. CRE8 workshops have been run by artists and filmmakers, by an art teacher and a filmmaker at a school in California, and by a studio in Helsinki with a friend, in a library. Each kit has the instructions, what you need and how it goes. If you can say two instructions twice and give the work a wall, you can run it.
Host a workshop
Schools, libraries, galleries, museums, festivals and families: a CRE8 workshop can happen in your space, and the work can be shown on your walls. You don't need to be an artist. We start with The Most Realistic Alien; the other projects are open too.
Run CRE8 workshops where you live. Artists, art teachers, educators, volunteers, parents: if you can say two instructions twice and give the work a wall, you can run it. Start with The Most Realistic Alien: paper, pens and an hour. Tell us where you are and which project you'd like to run.
Two instructions, one hour, a whole class. The Most Realistic Alien needs paper, pens and a wall.
Say the two instructions twice. Then draw too.
Hang every alien, with the same space for each one.
Close with: "You made something that wasn't here this morning."
Ping Pong Painting, workshop photograph
More for teachers
How it goes
Put the paper and pens out before the class comes in.
Say the two instructions twice: "Draw an alien. Make it realistic." Then say nothing more.
Draw too. You are a maker in the room, not a judge.
Hang every alien, with the same space for each one. Everyone stands by their alien and says one thing they notice.
Close with: "You made something that wasn't here this morning."
What the children practise
Just start. Draw an alien. Make it realistic.
Making something with someone else teaches you to trust your own ideas, and theirs.
Your part
Ask, don't tell. Your calm is the room's calm.
If someone says "mine is ugly", ask: "I see you care. What do you like about it?"
The work is finished when it is seen. Give it a wall.
More projects for a class
There are kits for all five projects. Ping Pong Painting takes 20 to 40 minutes: two people, one sheet, one line each, no talking. A Photo Rally takes about two hours, and time to choose and print.
Schools that made art with CRE8
Nongyetjai school, Nongplalai, Thailand
Marine View Middle School, Huntington Beach, California
Can Coll primary school, Torrelles del Llobregat, Spain
ISE International School, Chonburi, Thailand
Photos and names
Before you photograph children or share their names, ask their families and follow the rules of your school.
Host a workshop
A CRE8 workshop can happen at your school, and the work can be shown on your walls. Art teachers can run it with the kit; we can also come to you. Start with The Most Realistic Alien; the other projects are open too. Write to hello@cre8foundation.org.
Today CRE8 workshops start with The Most Realistic Alien. A grown-up gives two instructions: “Draw an alien. Make it realistic.” Everyone draws, the grown-ups too. At the end every drawing goes on the wall, with the same space for each one, and everyone says one thing they notice. The other CRE8 projects work the same way, each with its own instructions.
My child says they can't draw.
Nobody here has to draw well. Realistic means the way you really think it looks, and only they know that.
How old do children need to be?
In Helsinki, two-year-olds drew next to forty-year-olds. In Spain, 3rd and 4th graders drew aliens and 6th graders did a Photo Rally. Grown-ups join in too.
What do we need?
Paper, one sheet each. Pencils, felt pens or crayons. A wall, a line or a table to show the aliens. About an hour.
Does it cost anything?
The kits are free on this site, and anyone may use them to run a workshop. For a workshop led by CRE8, write to hello@cre8foundation.org.
What happens to my child's drawing?
No child's original drawing is ever sold. The collector editions differ only in their materials and in Ole Ukena's own work. From 18, anyone can ask to leave future printings; online, their drawing comes down at once.
More questions
What is CRE8?
CRE8 Foundation brings children and artists around the world together to make art. Each workshop starts with a short instruction, and the answers are shown together as art. The artist Ole Ukena began the workshops in 2008.
What if my child says "mine is ugly"?
Don't argue. Ask: "I see you care. What do you like about it?"
Are the drawings graded?
No. No alien is ever graded. That's why every label ends with "Grade: —".
Can we do it at home?
Yes. The kit is written for anyone: teachers, parents, volunteers, artists. Print it, or read it on screen.
Can I take photos and share names?
Before you photograph children or share their names, ask their families and follow the rules of your school or place.
Can CRE8 come to our school?
Yes. A CRE8 workshop can happen at your school, led by us or by a facilitator. Write to hello@cre8foundation.org.
Where do the aliens on this site come from?
From CRE8 workshops with children around the world, since the first Most Realistic Alien in Berlin in 2009.
Why aliens?
Everyone can imagine one. In the workshop we never explain the instructions. The children decide. At the wall they see that no two are alike, and all of them were drawn to be realistic.
Who is behind CRE8?
Ole Ukena, an artist, founded CRE8. Many people made it with him: artists, teachers, filmmakers and volunteers. In 2026 CRE8 is beginning a new chapter.
Can I become a facilitator?
Yes. You don't need to be an artist: art teachers, volunteers and parents can run it too. Start with The Most Realistic Alien; the kit is on this site. If you want to run workshops with CRE8, write to hello@cre8foundation.org.
Can my child send you a drawing?
Not yet. We are working out a safe way for families to send drawings. Until then, hang it at home and tell someone where your alien lives.
Support
How the work is funded, and what the money is for.
