By Kate Snyder

Marketing Director

The Community Arts Center has unveiled its winter/spring educational lineup, which includes more than 50 different classes, workshops, and special arts events for children and adults. Executive Director Niki Kinkade says that the fall was the busiest season in the Arts Center’s history, with more than 500 people participating in classes and workshops. “We also hosted over 200 students for arts field trips,” says Kinkade. “It was a wonderfully hectic fall and we’re looking forward to an equally busy winter and spring!”

Classes for adults

The Arts Center’s adult programming lineup includes several workshops by well-known artists. Award-winning photographer Kirk Schlea will teach an afternoon photography workshop on Sunday, Jan. 21. Schlea shoots advertising, editorial, and corporate work for clients such as Pepsi, Cadillac, Nike, ESPN, and AT&T. His magazine and newspaper credits include Sports Illustrates, Newsweek, TIME, and USA Today. In his workshop, Schlea will discuss light, exposure, focus, composition and perspective, and equipment and will also facilitate hands-on practice time. Students must bring a digital camera or camera-equipped cell phone to class.

As a follow-up to the photography workshop, Brandon Long will teach a photo-editing workshop in February that provides an introduction to using a free photo editing software similar to Adobe Photoshop. Also in February, Lexington watercolor artist Connie Tucker will teach a workshop on the fundamentals of watercolor painting.

The Arts Center will continue to offer a robust lineup of ceramics classes and workshops in 2018. There will be two sections of beginner wheel-thrown pottery as well as classes in clay jewelry and ceramic sculpture. A series of product-focused workshops will give students the chance to create ceramic cat figurines, fairy houses, luminaries, and garden accessories. More experienced potters have the option of joining the ceramics studio and working independently outside of class hours. “The most encouraging thing for me is to see students ‘graduate’ from classes to membership in the ceramics studio,” says Kinkade. “It’s exciting to see students gaining that confidence in their skills. And it’s really fun to stop into the studio and see three or four potters working together and learning from each other.”

The winter term will also include introductory classes for adults in printmaking, drawing, and acrylic painting.

Classes for kids

The Arts Center will offer a wide variety of programs for children in 2018, including a brand-new initiative called the Creative Kids Club, which will meet on Tuesday afternoons. Kinkade says, “Sometimes kids create the best things when given the most freedom. In Creative Kids Club, we will work with really fabulous ‘found object’ art materials like beach glass or metal gears or wood scraps. We will give the students creative prompts – build a monster, create a treehouse, etc. – but then we’ll get out of the way.” Kinkade says the program facilitator will provide technical support and will teach students how to safely wield a hot glue gun, but that the class is about giving children free reign over their imaginations. She says, “Children excel at “world-building” when given the chance – whether it’s creating an elaborate time machine or constructing a house for their favorite stuffed animal. Creative Kids Club promotes problem solving, critical thinking, and collaborative learning as students explore new ways to express themselves.”

 

Other classes for children will include Drawing from Imagination, Kids Pottery, Kids Visual Arts, and Introduction to Weaving. Families with preschool-age children will have three options for classes starting in January. The popular Thursday morning “Munchkin and Me” program is designed for children 18 months to four years with an adult caregiver. The free weekly classes give very young children the chance to explore different creative processes while fostering positive interactions with their grown-ups. Art Adventures is a drop-off program for slightly older children (ages 3-5). Parents can enroll their children in a Tuesday morning or Friday morning session.

In 2018, the Arts Center will expand its homeschool class offerings with the addition of a Friday afternoon drawing class for elementary students. Also on the schedule are elementary ceramics, mixed media, and music classes on Thursday mornings as well as ceramics, mixed media, and abstract painting for middle and high school students.

For families who aren’t able to commit to multi-week classes, the Arts Center will again offer a variety of workshops for kids, including a painting workshop on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Kinkade says that scholarships are available for most classes. “We try to keep the cost of our classes as low as possible, but we understand that even modest fees can be prohibitive for many families. Thanks to generous community support, we can offer up to a 90% scholarship for our classes, depending on the needs of a family.”

Full class information as well as online registration can be found at www.communityartscenter.net. Gift certificates can be purchased in any denomination.

On Exhibit

Holiday Market (ends Dec. 23)
Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Shop a variety of beautiful, handmade gifts by local and regional artists.

OPENING SOON

New Year New Art – January 4 to February 24
. This exhibit features brand-new artwork by more than 40 of the region’s top artists!
Opening reception Jan. 12, 5 to 8 p.m. – enjoy live music, beer and wine for sale, and a chance to meet the artists in the show!

Coming Up:

Night at the Museum (New Year’s Eve)
Sunday, Dec. 31 to Monday, Jan. 1.
Drop-off at 6:30 p.m. – pickup at 8:30 a.m.,
$50 per child (2nd through 6th grade)

Grab your sleeping bag and get ready to ring in the new year at the Arts Center! We’ll enjoy art-making activities, explore the galleries by flashlight, and do a special (early) countdown to the new year. Register online at www.communityartscenter.net.

Starry Night Studio: Winter Trees
Monday, January 15 | 2 to 4 p.m.
$28 per painter

Looking for a fun activity while the kids are out of school for MLK Day? Come paint with us! Register online at www.communityartscenter.net.

Ceramic Cat Workshop
Thursdays, Jan. 11 and 25 | 4 to 5:30 p.m. $35 |  Ages 7+ (adults welcome!)

In this two-week class we’ll be creating whimsical ceramic cat figures. You will build your cats in Week 1 and glaze them in Week 2.

Photography Workshop with Kirk Schlea
Sunday, January 21 | 2 to 4 p.m. | $40

Award-winning photographer Kirk Schlea will discuss light, exposure, focus, composition and perspective, and equipment and also facilitate hands-on practice time. Students must bring a digital camera or camera-equipped cell phone.

Lunch with the Arts: Erika Holmquist-Wall
“Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism”
Wednesday, January 17 | 12 to 1 p.m.
$5 at the door – feel free to bring a lunch.

Erika Holmquist-Wall is the Chief Curator and Curator of European and American Painting and Sculpture at the Speed Museum. During her Lunch with the Arts presentation, Erika will introduce guests to the upcoming exhibit at the Speed Museum – “Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism,” on display Feb. 17 to May 13, 2018. The exhibit surveys a key chapter in art history in which an international group of female artists overcame gender-based restrictions to make remarkable creative strides. The show features more than 80 paintings by 37 artists from 13 countries.