BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE CONTEMPORARY AUSTIN ART SCHOOL AT LAGUNA GLORIA
By Lisa Maher
For Statesman Content Marketing
Beautiful bugs and fabulous fish will artistically inspire more than 2, 500 kids who are expected to enroll this summer in classes on the gorgeous 12-acre historic site at The Art School at Laguna Gloria.
Two art classes – Bugs Are Beautiful and Fish Are Fabulous – will be part of the 300 classes offered that get kids roaming and exploring the outdoor campus looking for things that capture the eye. Classes include painting, drawing, wheel throwing (pottery), photography, PhotoShop, collage, mosaics, watercolor, pastels, jewelry, glass, metal and more.
“We have a little bit of everything here, ” said Judith Sims, site director for the campus, which is located off MoPac on West 35th Street on Lake Austin. “We are a community school with high-quality programs. We take full advantage of our location and being on the lake.”
The school’s natural setting, part of The Contemporary Austin art museum, has been fostering creativity and enhancing visual awareness for visitors for more than 50 years. Highly qualified art teachers guide students in small classes (12 to 13 kids) as they learn to observe the beauty that surrounds them and appreciate it through the creation of art.
“The kids love exploring the grounds, ” Sims said. “In the Fish Are Fabulous class, they paint and draw and sculpt fish and other underwater creatures and plants that they’ve directly observed. In the bugs class they learn all about ecology.”
Older kids – ages 13 and up who might feel like they’ve outgrown summer camp but really still want to stay plugged in to the fun – may find volunteering during summer classes to be exciting. More than 150 volunteers under the age of 18 gain valuable experience helping youngsters go on nature walks and assisting teachers in setting up classrooms and activities. A short training class is offered to volunteers at no cost.
“The ceramics classes are also really enjoyed by the older kids. We have lots of those classes, ” Sims said. “We also have popular classes about dinosaurs. Kids get to study the past and they learn so much.”
Summer classes begin the second week of June and run 11 weeks. Class sessions are held weekdays 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 4 p.m. Registration opens March 6 for The Contemporary Austin museum members, and March 8 for the general public. Registration can be done online at or by calling 512-323-6380.
Source: campguide.austin360.com
