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Message From The Director

Thursday, May 1st 2008

Wow! So many things are now happening at the Arts Council that we barely have time to turn around. We've got our ARTS IN PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM up and running (under the able tutelage of Leslie Dobyns, our Arts Education Outreach Coordinator, and banks and credit unions around the region are letting us hang shows of local artists -- we call it Banks Are Beautiful! or Credit Unions Are Classy!. We also have doctors who love our Doctors Offices Are Dandy! program -- Dr. LaFerriere in St. John's Campus has been having a new show every five weeks and many many artists have sold their work at these shows!

Our STOREFRONT STUDIOS PROGRAM is now up and running and actually sold out! Thanks to our friends at Butler, Rosenbury & Partners (Architects), they have allowed us to use the lower level of their offices on N. Main and we have created a dozen studio spaces which we rent out at $50 a month. We have painters, writers, graphic artists and floorcloth experts all working happily together in the space.

Our WRITING WORKSHOP FOR TEENS is definitely one of our popular ones. They meet every Wednesday under the direction of Jenny Laper who leads them through all kinds of exciting excercises and programs. We have a solid core of regulars who never miss a meeting and they even shared aloud some of their work at a recent Arts Council Board meeting!

Our other literary arts effort is also going strong: THE CREAMERY WRITERS' WORKSHOP meets every Thursday evening, 7pm to 8:30pm in the Creamery as well, and we have a diverse group at various levels of expertise who regularly attend. Sherlu Walpole is in charge of inviting featured speakers and she sure has a long list of these talented folks who share fabulous info with us. There is no fee for either of these writing workshops but membership in the Arts Council is strongly suggested (we created an affordable fee of $20/year for artists and writers and dancers and actors and that gets you all the regular benefits of membership!).

THE JORDAN VALLEY JAZZ BAND is another new program aimed at highschool students who love to jam jazz. Tom Rastorfer, an accomplished jazz musician himself, leads the group and they not only practice each Thursday night in the Creamery, but they also take field trips to area jazz events and have even performed for the Arts Council, most recently at Poetry Out Loud!

Our MINI MONET MONDAYS is very successful and we have also invited children from the Lighthouse Child Development Center to participate. They love coming over here to the Creamery every Monday morning! One of our toddler regulars we have dubbed our "Glue Queen" because from the minute she arrives until the time she has to be pulled away, she loves using our glue and her imagination to create works of art.

ARTSFEST is coming up May 3 & 4 and we have more artists than ever before participating including new this year a special area for local artists all of whom were juried in. This year's theme is "ART GOES GREEN" so you will find all kinds of neat things connected with this at the event. New this year: we have created a special event for our canine friends and it is called

ARF-FEST. It will be held Sunday, April 27th, from 1pm to 6pm along Commercial Street at the Jefferson Avenue footbridge and in the little plaza there. There will be costumed dog parades and all kinds of dog-related vendor booths. Artists will also be sketching and painting our furry friends and you might even get one to do a portrait of your pooch!

FIRST FRIDAY, May 2nd, will feature in the Creamery Exhibition Hall the graphite works of Paula Turney Brewer as well as the watercolors of the Arts Council's artist-in-residence, Ann Meese. The Meet The Artist ARTalks will take place from 6 to 7pm featuring Paula and Ann. Also exhibiting will be several art teachers from regional elementary schools. Also on May 2nd from 5 to 6pm will be U.S. Congressman Roy Blunt's sponsored CONGRESSIONAL COMPETITION OF HIGH SCHOOL ART featuring works from students around the state. Congressman Blunt will be here to congratulate the winning students and a reception will be held May 2nd, 5 to 6pm, in the Creamery Board Room. The public is invited to all these First Friday events.

Posted by: srac