Ying Li Workshop Ah Haa School for the Arts
Ah Haa: Growth (And Growing Pains)
Total classes, new staff hateful growth (and growing pains) for Telluride's Ah Haa Schoolhouse for the Arts. Go a friend of Ah Haa, donate here, and p rovide scholarships to over 500 adults and children; cover 50% of the costs associated with classes, including instructor fees and art materials; support exhibitions of regional artists; replenish studio spaces, purchase equipment and maintain historic facilities; and enable community collaborations and special public events. Support Ah Haa by attention its New year's day Eve Gala, 5:30 – 10 p.yard., featuring artists Rob Schultheis and Sam Levy, with dinner by Josh Klein of Bouille Catering. Telephone call Kathleen Cole at (970)728-3886 to reserve your seat or buy a table. And become a member.
"Ah Haa is literally bursting at the seams,"says Ah Haa School for the Arts curriculum managing director, Jessica Newens, reflecting on the community art center's past year of programming.
The school'due south curriculum has steadily grown over the terminal three years; enough so that the schoolhouse has hired an boosted staff fellow member to focus solely on developed curriculum. Meanwhile, Newens' master focus has shifted to youth curriculum, the sector where the school has seen its most pronounced growth.
"Summertime kids' classes were near at capacity this past summertime, with sometimes five classes going on simultaneously. We barely had room for adult classes, forcing the states to make insanely fast room switches between classes or use off-site locations," says Newens.
Julee Hutchison'due south oil painting classes for adults.
Ah Haa's summer kids classes saw a twoscore percent increase in 2015. Some summer highlights included acting classes taught by Hateful Eight supporting player Keith Jefferson; new screen press and enameled jewelry classes; and a variety of workshops directed at teens.
Several times, to make upwards for limited room options within its historic Depot building, Ah Haa borrowed space from Alpine Chapel, Telluride Christian Fellowship, and a few local homes and utilized a 10×20 EZ Up tent as a spare classroom on its patio all summer long. Without a dedicated adult painting space for Robert Weatherford's ongoing Painting From Within classes, more than than a few times staff was forced to clear his classroom in but 30 minutes to ready for an entirely different course.
"Nosotros worked our interns difficult concluding summer!" says Newens, describing how Ah Haa'due south entire staff, including six summertime interns, would spring in to re-ready classrooms.
Shortly later on purchasing the Depot in 2007, Ah Haa completed a major phase of renovation, focusing on making the building ADA compliant and creating authoritative offices and 2 gallery spaces. Since then, Ah Haa has made due with its basement rooms as classroom spaces in the promise of eventually embarking on a second renovation to aggrandize and improve its art studios – not to mention the building's deteriorating infrastructure and years of deferred maintenance.
"We honey this historic building, but it needs some TLC, and nosotros need some more infinite," says Newens.
While there is no timeline in place to embark on a renovation, Ah Haa is making the all-time utilise of its building as it continues to grow and thrive. The school's electric current focus is developed programming, with the intention of offering more various, innovative and cutting-edge programming.
"Terminal spring we hired a super talented woman – Kris Kwasniewski – formerly the program coordinator for Brown University's Artistic Arts Quango," explains Newens. "Kris pigeon right in and came upwards with some new and interesting courses. She'southward even revamped our ceramics open studio program."
Zombie class
This fall, Ah Haa began offer condensed cycle-and-glazing sessions with designated open up studio hours in betwixt. The goal is to grow the school'due south ceramics community, which has been lagging for some years. Information technology appears these shorter, more affordable classes are a hit, with the first two sessions selling out within one week.
"We were diddled away by the response. Now our just obstacle is space, since nosotros only have room for eight wheels and express shelf infinite for dirt storage," continues Newens.
On Kwasniewski's roster for developed winter classes are some familiar offerings: First Caricatural, Open Figure Studio, Painting From Within, Batik, Castilian, and Literary Caricatural.
Additional offerings include Figurative Sculpture with Kevin McCarthy; Three Rings Project with Tracey Chugalug; The Fun of Philosophy with Paul Evans; Marking Making with Ilze Aviks; and Intro to Abstraction with Pinkney Herbert, among others.
Ying Li Telluride Painting School class
New this winter, Ah Haa is offering a plan called "Free for All": the customs is invited to try out a medium such every bit printmaking or mixed media collage through a free evening grade. And Kwasniewski is also introducing a series of "chief classes," featuring a Fri evening lecture, Saturday workshop, and Lord's day critique taught by a noteworthy visiting artist. Eventually, Kwasniewski dreams of offering large-calibration classes like bike building or sculpture workshops – even on-site metals classes.
"Kris is infusing our programming with freshness and diverseness, and coming up with great and affordable means to attract newcomers," adds Newens, promising an activity-packed winter at Ah Haa.
"It is so gratifying to welcome new students here, and to see familiar faces coming dorsum again and again. This is why Ah Haa is here – to serve, to inspire, and to cultivate a community of artists."
For more information on Ah Haa or to register for a class, visit world wide web.ahhaa.org.
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