We work to make sure our community has opportunities to access art in many different forms. This means taking into account the accessibility of arts programming- asking, can everyone participate? We evaluate our programming to be sure we are not limiting certain audiences or members of our community because of cost, ease of access, relevancy or by creating any other barriers to participation. We also make special consideration of children’s arts access. We know as a society that creative play not only enriches children’s lives, but did you know it also has real and lasting impact on developmental growth and academic success?
To address this important need, the Arts Center has teamed up with USD 352 to offer art classes to all 530+ students in the local elementary schools. This partnership grew from a similar program from the year before which was funded by the Arts Center and a grant from Midwest Energy. For school year 2018-2019, Director Abby Killingsworth delivers monthly classes at both West Elementary and North Elementary Schools.
The program kicked off in September with a bit of art history and collage as students learned about early 20th century artist, Paul Klee. Klee was an important painter from the Blue Rider Group. His approach to art would help usher in the transition from realism to abstraction- a hallmark of modern art.