Winter Classes at the Erie Art Museum

Erie, PA, December 24, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The Erie Art Museum kicks off the winter semester of art classes in January, with most classes starting the week of January 10, 2011. The Museum offers an array of courses in many media for every level of art enthusiast and for both children and adults. Topics range from pottery and painting to photography and framing, drawing and more. All classes are taught by some of the area’s best professional artists.

The Museum’s clay instructor, Eric Thayer, studied graphic design at Marymount University. After moving to Ohio, he graduated from the University of Toledo in 2008 with degrees in both Ceramics and Art History. He has worked as a ceramic studio assistant at the University of Toledo and the Toledo Museum of Art. Currently, he is a Technical Assistant for the Ceramics Department at Edinboro University. He has exhibited work in both Pennsylvania and New York.

Eric will be teaching clay courses this winter for a variety of skill and interest levels. Handbuilding with Clay will provide beginners and intermediate students with an overview of hand-building techniques including pinch, coil, and slab building. After the basics, students are encouraged to discover their interests and build to their hearts’ delight.

Clay for Kids gives children ages nine and up the opportunity to learn how to throw cups and bowls on professional potter’s wheels, and learn how to create tiles, trophy cups, and cookie jars. Eric’s small classes and personalized instruction ensures children will learn proper handling and glazing techniques.

In Ceramics on the Wheel, Eric offers beginning and intermediate students the opportunity to explore the potter’s wheel and create a variety of bowls, cups, jars, vases, and pitchers. With group exercises and one-on-one instruction, students will learn about decoration techniques like wax resist, stamping, and carving and glazing. Balancing practical issues and aesthetics, students learn techniques, but are also given creative freedom to explore their interests.

The Museum’s many photography classes are a great way to perfect shooting skills. Photography for Kids offers an opportunity for kids to express themselves through the art of photography. Children will learn how to take portraits that capture personality, amazing action shots, and stages shots that tell a story. Instruction in lighting and double exposure provides fun and exciting exposure to the darkroom experience. For adults, in Beginning Digital Photography, students learn how to compose and capture the moment, how to photograph still and moving objects, and how to use light and work in low light conditions. An introduction to photo editing software is also included. Other classes are available to kids and adults of all ages and skill levels.

Mosaic Fundamentals is a brand new class offered for the first time this semester. Without spending money on materials, reusing broken glass and old tiles can be a great way to express your artistic creativity. The course offers a comprehensive overview of mosaic as an art form, from antiquity through the present. Students will explore color and line, creating in architectural surroundings, and learn how light interacts with their pieces.

A complete list of courses is available at www.erieartmuseum.org. Please plan to register at least one week prior to the start of the course.

About the Erie Art Museum
The Erie Art Museum anchors downtown Erie’s cultural and economic revitalization, occupying a group of restored mid-19th century commercial buildings and a modern, ‘Green,’ 10,500 square foot expansion. The newly expanded Museum marks the first LEED-certified building in the region, soon to be complete with a planted rooftop.

The Museum maintains an ambitious program of changing exhibitions annually, embracing a wide range of subjects, both historical and contemporary and including folk art, contemporary craft, multi-disciplinary installations, community-based work, as well as traditional media.

The Erie Art Museum also holds a collection of over 6,000 objects, which includes significant works in American ceramics, Tibetan painting, Indian bronzes, contemporary baskets, and a variety of other categories.

The Museum offers a wide range of education programs and artists’ services including interdisciplinary and interactive school tours and a wide variety of classes for the community. Performing arts are showcased in the 25-year-old Contemporary Music Series, which represents national and international performers of serious music with an emphasis on composer/performers, and a popular annual two-day Blues & Jazz Festival.

The Erie Art Museum, café, and gift shop is open Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. For additional visitor information, visit online at erieartmuseum.org or call 814-459-5477.

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Erie Art Museum
Carolyn Eller
814-459-5477
erieartmuseum.org
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