MIDDLETOWN >> Storytelling will be the focus of classes at the Middletown Art Center (MAC) this weekend.
Photography: Telling Visual Stories is offered today, from noon to 5 p.m. as part the Resilience Project. The cost is $5, thanks to a grant from the California Arts Council with support from Adventist Health and other local agencies.
On Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., MAC, in collaboration with the Lake County Big Read, is hosting a Graphic Novel Playshop (workshop) inspired by this year’s Big Read selection Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. This class is free thanks to a grant to Lake County Libraries from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
Adults and teens 12 and up, whether new to artmaking or professionals, are invited to attend one or both of these or other Resilience classes. To reserve a spot while they are available, email MiddletownArtCenter@gmail.com or call 707-809-8118.
Telling Visual Stories will delve into photo essays. The class will focus on capturing a variety of compositions that support a common unfolding narrative. In each class, photographer Shane Powers introduces and reviews basic photographic and artistic principles and technical aspects of digital camera operations. Participants should bring a camera or may use their cell phone if no other camera is available. Resilience Photography will shift to Sunday the first weekend in November only (Nov. 5). The class will focus on the cyanotype technique, which is an early form of blueprints.
The Graphic Novel Playshop with artist and writer Sage Abella, highlights a different storytelling modality that combines drawing and words. A good story can easily be told with simple figures and a fun, creative attitude.Participants will create heroes and villains, and play with drawing techniques using line, shading and lettering to tell a fun, visual story. All materials and supplies are provided.
The purpose of the Resilience Project is to increase access to the arts in underserved communities. The project also focuses on nature’s resilience as a mirror for our own post-fire recovery. The Big Read is designed to broaden understanding of the world, local communities, oneselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
Classes at MAC provide a safe space for community members to learn, share, and hone skills that give form to their creativity while making art.
MAC offers courses any first through fourth weekend of the month until May 2018 for Resilience Project classes in Photography, Creative Writing, Painting or Printmaking for $5 per class. Visit MiddletownArtCenter.org/resilience to pre-register or learn more about the Resilience Project.
Printmaking for Kids and Parents and Kids Together will begin Monday October 9, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and meet every Monday through October 30. Printmaking is a magical artistic process that is sure to provide a fun time for participants and bonding time for parents who join their children for the class. Learn more at www.middletownartcenter.org.classes. Work-trade options and partial scholarships are available for those in need, contact MiddletownArtCenter@gmail.com
