Summer program gives kids taste of art

A Coeur d’Alene program will help youths expand their artistic talents this summer.

The Summer Arts Program for Youth started by the Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission is accepting applications for the first session of three-day classes to be held this month at the Harding Family Center in Coeur d’Alene. A second session of three-day classes will be offered in July.

Now in its ninth year, the program offers a wider variety of classes for students in grades K-12. Students can learn something new in a fun environment, program director Yvonne Benzinger said. “It’s really well received by both kids and parents,” Benzinger said.

The class offerings are changed each year to keep students interested. This year the lineup includes watercolor painting, wood burning, glass art, cooking, and rhythm and music. In addition, new classes include “pirate loot and lore” and self-portraits created from a grid of small photos. Space is quickly filling up for the pirate class, but there’s still room, Benzinger said.

She hopes older kids will become more involved this year. A guitar class is where they show the most interest, she added.

Fourteen local artists are lined up to teach the classes, and parents are welcome to volunteer. “We’re a nonprofit, so we try to break even,” Benzinger said.

The program is funded by grants from the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Scholarships from the Coeur d’Alene Art Association are available for families that need help.

Brochures are available online at www.cdaid.org and at the Harding Family Center, Burt’s Music & Sound, Art Spirit Gallery, Creative Element, Borders Books, Coeur d’Alene City Hall, the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, and the Coeur d’Alene, Hayden and Post Falls libraries.