Spokane Art School To Offer Kids’ Workshops

As part of a season-long celebration of Earth Day’s 25th anniversary, the Spokane Art School will offer art and nature workshops for children during spring break, Monday through Friday.

In addition to participating in short workshops in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and clay, young artists can enroll in a variety of four-day workshops designed to enhance environmental awareness while providing art knowledge and skills.

The combination of nature and art gives kids a good opportunity to “burst loose,” said Maureen Davidson, executive director. When they’re outside in the spring, they can creatively express new ideas.

Classes for first- through third-grade students include a study of local bird habitat and nesting combined with building birdhouses and ceramic birdbaths. The children can also expand drawing and painting skills while learning local plant and wildlife lore, or they can work in clay.

Fourth- through sixth-graders can learn how plants and animals adapt to surroundings, capped off with a visit to the Little Spokane River with a biological illustrator and naturalist. The students can also learn beading along with local Native American heritage, or work with natural fibers to make paper and use it to express environmental themes in two-dimensional and sculptural art.

Junior high and high school students will explore natural dyes and fibers, nature photography and Tom O’Day’s “recycled” art.

Workshops for four days of two-hour classes cost $35. Classes in traditional art disciplines are $10 per two-hour class; a full day of three classes from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. costs $25.

For more information, call the Spokane Art School at 328-0900.