Summer!

Summer is in Full Swing!

Whew! What happened to that last few months? We have been very busy around here at MSAC. We are already in our fourth week of art camps, and so far they are running better than ever!  We have a great line up of art teachers that are using their creative minds to come up with some pretty awesome art projects for the kids.  There are some great camps coming up in the next couple weeks that are still open for enrollment. Cartooning, Printmaking, and Superhero Art for Ages 5-7. Printmaking, All About People, and  Manga for Ages 8- 10 are some classes that still have spots (Click here to check it out)! 

Fabric Storyscapes from earlier this summer-How stunning are these? 

Possibly the most exciting part of Summer is getting to see the familiar faces of students that have been coming to our art camps for years. I had a student that has been coming since she was at least 5 and now she is old enough for the 8-10 year old camps. I found an old picture of her in a camp from years ago and shared it with her and her mom last week. How wonderful a feeling to be able to watch the kids grow up from year to year!

Art Show at Crescendo Espresso Bar!

Last semester, MSAC worked with the Boys and Girls Club on Allied Drive along side their art teacher to bring them some new and exciting art experiences. Their hard work is currently on display at Crescendo Espresso Bar on Monroe Street! It looks great, and the students at the Boys and Girls Club are thrilled to have their artwork displayed.

Open Art Studio

Don't forget about Open Art Studio during the week- Perfect for run-over art camps, or for a break from the heat for a few hours. We offer Open Art Studio from M-F from 3:30-5:00pm and Saturdays from 1:00-2:30pm. Each class is $12, or $48 for five classes with the Open Art Studio Pass (buy four, get one free!). We do some pretty fun stuff in Open Art, and just geared up a new bin with some fun project ideas filled in it. Call ahead to let us know you'll be there! 

Claire's Event

The Claire's Event date is set! It will be Sunday, August 25th from 5:00pm-8:00pm. 
There will be face painting, art activities and and art show. Claire's Fund is a scholarship fund which awards funds to MSAC music and art students in need of financial assistance.  Great fun for a great cause! Check out more information on the Fund, as well as the event.

We hope everyone is having a great (and creative) summer! 

Welcome Spring and Summer Art!

We have a lot of things to catch up on for the art program at MSAC! Read on for all of the news!

We are Famous!
...Well, we were at least mentioned in the Wisconsin State Journal for our grant funded OASis program! You can read it for yourself here. We, at MSAC are very excited to have a mention in the newspaper. This is a great program, and we hope this reaches out to even more people about it.

Arty Gras
This year, Arty Gras (our fundraiser) was held at Hotel Red on Monroe Street. It felt really nice to have our annual fundraiser right in the neighborhood that we serve. We had a great turn out, and auctioned off some wonderful artwork. It is good to know that such a fun and productive night also helps out scholarship recipients past and future!

We had some great sponsors this year

Some of the teachers and staff at MSAC!

SUMMER!
Could it come any faster?! We are all geared up for our summer art group classes. Be on the look out for some old favorites like Painting and Drawing and All things Alien and Robot and some new classes like All about People, where the students will be focusing on drawing hands, feet, and all things people!

Summer is one of our favorite sessions at MSAC because we get to spend all day making art! It is 8 full hours of art-what could be any better?

You can check out our summer program here, or stop in to get a copy of the program.

All About Animal puppets!

Creature Creations

Welcome Back!

We have made it through another year! We at MSAC are pretty excited for our year ahead. With the new year, comes a sense of rejuvenation. I'm not sure about you, but I have quite a few new tricks up my 2013 sleeve in the form of new art projects and class ideas! 

We had some successful art camps last week, and met some great new faces (and were happy to see some old ones too!). 

We made all kinds of projects over a three day period, it makes me nostalgic for the summer camps!

Here's some great examples of what we made:

A mini art gallery! Wall art, sculpture and even a mobile! 

A beautiful sculpture made with mat board, paint oil pastel, and glue!

We have a great semester ahead of us. We are offering art classes for after school kids (which are filling up very fast!), toddler/preschool, and homeschool art. All the classes are monthly, so you can sign up for one month, or get a discount if you sign up for them all! You can check out our website here for more information, and to sign up for a class.

Stay tuned for a Martin Luther King day camp and Spring Break camps!

As a last note, our very own art teacher,  Abby Tindal sang some songs for our afternoon art camp last week, they loved it! What a heartwarming picture!

Changes, Excitement, and Art!

Winding Down 2012

With the holiday season among us, it is easy for us to get caught up in it all and forget to slow down and see the art! Can you believe we are already in December?! With all of the excitement happening at the Monroe Street Arts Center, the last few months seemed to slip away!

First things first, as many of you know, we have a new Executive Director at MSAC! Her name is Holly Baris and she began in November. She brings a welcomed warmth and energy to the staff, students and parents. Many great things are in our future at MSAC-Welcome, Holly!

A wintery found object sculpture group project

Winter Break Classes!

We have winter camps! January 2nd, 3rd and 4th from 9-11:30am and 1-3:30pm. You can sign up for one class, or all three! Classes are for 5-7 year olds or 8-10 year olds. I don't know about you, but I will be happy to get back into the swing of things after the whirlwind of the holidays! We will be doing 2-d art in the mornings and 3-d in the afternoons. Check our website for more details and to sign up.

We also are making snow globes and snow people on Sunday, December 16th from 1-3pm. What a great way to spend a lazy Sunday and get into the holiday spirit! More details here.

Thank you!

As we ease into a new year we all reflect on the things we are happy to have had in the past year, as well as what we resolve to do differently. I am thankful to continue to bring art into children's lives and be able to do it so effortlessly with the help of our great parent and staff community. I give a very humble "thank you" to all of you who help support and encourage the arts in this great city.

A Few Great Changes!

Art classes are humming along at the Center, and we are making some pretty neat stuff! 

Stay tuned for the release of our Winter/Spring program!

It's watercolor with a black glue outline! The colors are so vibrant!

Thank You, Jen!

Most importantly, we bid a fine farewell to our Executive Director, Jen Roth. Jen has brought this wonderful (and not so little) art center on Monroe Street so very far in her five years as the Executive Director. We attribute our past success in music and art to Jen! We will be sad to see her go, but (very) excited to have our new Executive Director, Holly Baris join us November first.  Please check the link to read an informative letter from our Board President, Doug Poland and Jen Roth.

So here's to a new round of excitement for the Monroe Street Arts Center, and a very big

 THANK YOU to Jen for all she has done!

Fall is Here!

fall nature mandala made in homeschool art!

Well our Fall Program is, anyway! We are in week two of the fall program, and we are off to a great start. We have a lot of great art classes running, and a few new ones, too! We started two brand-new homeschool art classes. These new classes focus on specific artists in history and specific media. This is very exciting, because we can focus all of our energy on one artist or media. So far everyone really seems to enjoy it! Check out this program here.  You can also check out the homeschool group music program, that runs Thursdays from 1pm-1:45. This is a great way to explore movement, singing, history, and instruments in a homeschool specific setting! 

For the last year we have been offering art classes on a monthly basis, which is handy for families that have a lot of activities to plan for your young learners! I personally enjoy this monthly sign up, because, as a teacher, I get to meet so many wonderful, young artists!

Speaking of all these children that are humming about MSFAC, I had a moment where I thought about the many regular art students I get. For years now, I have gotten to know quite a few families and gotten pretty attached to them. It is so great to look at the class lists and see some of the same names. The best part is that they know their way around my art class and are very helpful to newcomers. I get the warm and fuzzies big time when a new student is nervously sitting in my class for the first time and a veteran student eases their worries. Kids are pretty great.

Here's to another great school year of art and music!

OASis

OASis!

I have patiently waited for the last several months to tell you all the details of our latest grant funded program-OASis! OASis stands for Open Art Studio is... This is a new art program that will accommodate students with special needs from the ages of 6-18 years old.

This is not only a great step forward for MSFAC, because we can offer art enrichment to everyone, but it is also a very personally exciting adventure for me. I have an Art Therapy degree, as well as an Art Education degree, and have been wanting to combine the two for quite some time.  Abby Tindal, another art teacher that works with us is in the process of earning her Art Therapy Degree and will be finished in the spring of this year. I can tell you that she is equally excited about this new adventure we are embarking on!

We are very excited to use our knowledge of art materials and supplies to create a really great space for students will all different needs and abilities to come together and gain confidence and enrichment through art.

The program will be the last Friday of every month, starting September 28th. It will start at 3:30 and go until 5:00.  Thanks to the Capital Times Kids Fund Grant, this program is free to participants!

Open Art Studio is …Exciting, Inspiring, Creative, 

Accommodating, Approachable! 

…An art studio to help students with 

special needs gain confidence 

through art! 

Please contact us with any questions about this program at 232-1510, or email: beth@msfac.org