These days, the Art House offers instruction in drawing techniques, color theory and design to about 500 youngsters a week, in kindergarten through 12th grade. Cherene Raphael, who has a master's degree in drawing and painting and a teaching credential in K-12 art education, teaches many of the classes. We begin with art history, see what other artists have done, and learn to appreciate different styles. We stress design and composition and other basic elements. Two of Raphael's colorful, contemplative oil paintings hang in the school's front window, beside whimsical chairs that look as if someone is already sitting in them.
Kids deserve a chance to exercise all of their options.
Assistant art teacher Laurie Fischer demonstrates throwing clay on the pottery wheel at the Mudd Art School. It's like flexing the muscles of your right and left hand. There's a reason we have both hands, and there's a reason we have both hemispheres of our brain. Mudd clay classes start with instruction in technique before students start sculpting a teapot or pitcher or bookends, trying to tell a story along the way. On a recent weekday afternoon, Tabata introduced a class to the wonders of the potting wheel, helping students dip their tiny fingers in water before they wrapped them around the spinning clay.