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Sample The Arts… A Success!
June 9, 2006
by Elizabeth Schwarten
STURGEON BAY, WI - Sample
The Arts is among the many programs that the Francis Hardy Center for the Arts (FHCA) offers. It is a free arts
program focused on creative thinking that reaches hundreds of local children through collaboration with other Door
County nonprofit organizations. This year the FHCA offered an 8-week program for the kids, ranging in age from
7 to 12 years old, at the Boys and Girls Club that meets at the Sunrise School in Sturgeon Bay.
Various artists participated, taking an afternoon to demonstrate their medium, allowing students to try it out
for themselves. The results - a project the kids were able to take home, but more important, a lasting impression
of how art impacts their lives. Tony and Renee Gebauer, Ed Fenendael, Linda Keller, Liz Thomas, Ken and Lisa Jeansonne,
Kirstin Christianson, Angela Lensch, and Michael Farmer participated as artists this year. Projects included origami,
clay, beading, papermaking, mask making, theatre games, music, book arts, and watercolor.
Ed Fenendael taught the fundamentals of watercolor. Each student was given paper, a set of individual watercolors
and the go-ahead to start painting. The resulting masterpieces were matted and framed. Kirstin Christianson instructed
students in papermaking, coming equipped with pulp made from cotton, banana leaves, hemp, and flax as well as screens
to process it. She went through the process and then everyone took turns creating paper. Angela Lensch and Michael
Farmer brought a wide array of beads and memory wire for the students to experiment with. The artists demonstrated
how to make a bracelet and everyone was eager to learn and try their hand at several bracelets.
I had the pleasure of assisting several of these artists throughout the program. Being in the classroom with them
and working with the children was a great experience for everyone. The kids loved the program. Their wide eyes
at learning a new skill and their proud smiles on completion proved the program a success. It was fully funded
by a grant from the Door County Service Club Coalition, an organization providing a financial base that supports
current and new youth activities in Door County.
The Francis
Hardy Center for the Arts is a nonprofit organization
promoting awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the arts through education and outreach programs, events,
and exhibits.
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