Toymaker crafts project to have toy-lending library

MILLBROOK —  Imagine a toymaker with a shop deep in the woods, a mystical place where the most wonderful toys are made — strange beasts, cows with wings, yellow zebras with blue stripes and orange duck feet. There are elephants with wings, eagles that catch fish, dragons and multicolored caterpillars, all with moving parts.

There is such a place, and it is full of toys created by local artist Kardash. His studio is in Stanfordville, in a site he has called home for more than 40 years. On the property are some pieces he sculpted, but the toys came about when he started creating them for his son, and now his 6-year-old grandson. Other children have also been recipients of his creations.

Kardash realized that even the most beloved toys are outgrown, and he had the idea of creating a means by which toys could be borrowed at libraries, played with, and returned so other children could enjoy them, just as they do with books. Take Out Toys was born.

Kardash has created a project involving other local artisans and children to help in the first phase of the program, which is creating puzzles. They are constructed from recycled magazines and books that are then glued to plywood panels and cut into freeform pieces, making puzzles.

This enables all sorts of subjects to become puzzles, from history to various cultures or different interests. Some of the puzzles were actually done from drawings made by 3- to 8-year-old children, but the puzzles are for young people of all ages.

Take Out Toys will be part of the summer program at the Millbrook Library designed for children of various ages, called All Together Now. Starting Saturday, July 1, Kardash will meet with children on the lawn at the Millbrook Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a display of images of the puzzles, and children and their parents can choose a puzzle to borrow, take home, solve and then return.

Tables will be available so children can play with the puzzles while at the library. There will also be an easel and blank plywood for those youngsters who want to get creative and join in making the puzzles, using markers and paints. The creation will then be cut into puzzle pieces by Kardash, and it will be available on the next Saturday.

Take Out Toys is self-funded by local artisans; after the summer program ends, the puzzles will become part of the library’s permanent collection.

His love for children has led this Armenian artist, author and sculptor — who has had an installation in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and whose sculptures have been captured by photographers from around the world — to want to share his love of art and creativity with the area’s children this summer. He hopes the idea of Take Out Toys will become a project that will entice other libraries as well.

To learn more about Millbrook Library programs or to register for a particular program, go to millbrooklibrary.org or call 845-677-3611.

Kardash in the building that houses may of his toys, deep in the woods of Stanfordville. This summer he will be at the Millbrook Library, helping children create puzzles of their own and encouraging them to take puzzles out of the library on loan, much as they do with books. Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe

From left, Kardash with Helen Hamada, showing some of the puzzles being created for Take Out Toys, which is set to begin on Saturday, July 1, at Millbrook Library. Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe

Kardash in the building that houses may of his toys, deep in the woods of Stanfordville. This summer he will be at the Millbrook Library, helping children create puzzles of their own and encouraging them to take puzzles out of the library on loan, much as they do with books. Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe