Art with You ’22 programs offered by Charles City Library and Arts Center

To The Press

The Charles City Public Library and Charles City Arts Center have joined to offer a series of free programs for kids, teens and adults.

“Art with You ’22” programs will feature local artists as instructors for classes on a variety of different art forms and media.

Kids K-6th grade will learn to use oil pastels, paint and sculpture; teens will learn print making, hand building with clay and paper quilling; adults will learn painting and drawing techniques, hand building with clay and print making.

Sessions include three or four individual classes and will usually last two hours. The first session will be at the library, where students will meet instructors, learn the details of the class, research art techniques and look for inspiration for their creation from books, media and art available at the library.

Then the rest of the classes will be held at the Arts Center where instructors will continue to teach, and students will create their works of art.

Registration for each session is required by contacting the library at 641-257-6319.

Smocks will be provided for students who want one in classes where materials may stain.

The  Art with You ‘22 Youth Sessions:

• Session 1: Planets and Stained Glass (Oil Pastels) – 1 p.m. on April 2, 9 and  23, with instructor Meredith Hamm. Smocks will be provided. Planets will be more focused on blending and creating a 3D shape, while stained glass will be more focused on color tones, the influence of light, and sectioning with different shades.
• Session 2: Galaxy Skies and Action Painting – 1 p.m. on May 7, 14 and 21, with instructor Meredith Hamm. Galaxy Skies will be focused on different painting techniques with a paint brush, textures, and color. Action painting will have a focus on movement, painting techniques that exclude a paint brush, and the way emotion ties into art.
• Session 3: Environmental Sculpture – 10 a.m. on June 7, 14 and 21, with instructor Meredith Hamm. Session III has a material focus on Sculpture, specifically environmental sculpture and how recycling materials for artwork can be made into something artists can be proud of. The project will be to make sculpted aliens.

Art with You ’22 Teen Sessions:

• Session 1: Printmaking – 6:30 p.m. on May 18, 19 and 21, with instructor Lori Biwer-Stewart. Participants are invited to get their hands dirty with an introduction to relief printmaking. Participants will learn how to create, carve and print a series of prints. Students will print onto a t-shirt that they provide.
• Session 2: Hand Building with Clay – 4 p.m. on June 1,8 and 15, with teacher Elissa Ellis. Learn how to create a form with clay through slab, drape, coil, and slump molding. Research basic forms, shapes, and techniques from resources at the library.
• Session 3: Paper Quilling – 5 p.m. on July 20, 27 and Aug. 3, with teacher Elissa Ellis. Learn to transform paper into a sculptural form of artwork. Why keep it flat?! Research line art and simple geometric patterns to transform into dimensional work.

Art with You ’22 Adult Sessions

• Session 1: Prose to Paintings (Painting and Drawing) – 6 p.m. on April 22 and 29 and May 6; teacher Lacey Brenna. This course is intended to strengthen content building in artwork by utilizing the concept of Ekphrasis or vivid descriptions for inspiration. Students will be creating 2-dimensional painting or drawing based on a chosen piece of poetry, literature, or music.
• Session 2: Hand Building with Clay – 7 p.m. on June 1, 8 and 15, with teach Elissa Ellis. Learn how to create a form with clay through slab, drape, coil, and slump molding! Research basic forms, shapes, and techniques from resources at the CCPL.
• Session 3: Printmaking – 6 p.m. on Sept. 21 and 22, and 9 a.m. on Sept. 24, with teacher Lori Biwer-Stewart. Get your hands dirty with an introduction to relief printmaking. Participants will learn how to create, carve, and print a series of prints. Students will print onto a t-shirt that they provide.

Floyd County Community Foundation is the fiscal sponsor behind Art with You ’22 programs, awarding the library $9,320 in this year’s grants to non-profit or government groups serving Floyd County. A total of more than $137,500 was awarded to 23 organizations, decided on by the foundation’s local governing committee.