Hone Your Skills at the Pocono Arts Council

By Erika Pokrivsak
SC Contributing Writer

The Pocono Arts Council,located in East Stroudsburg, offers a variety of art classes held during the month of March.

Many classes are ongoing and are held as a workshop a few times throughout the month, allowing the individual to work on his or her techniques and projects.

The classes work with an assortment of different mediums, where experienced instructors teach different methods and techniques.

Below you can find dates and information on the classes that are scheduled throughout March.

The Adult Oil Painting class, an ongoing four-session workshop held on March 5, 12, 19, and 26, costs $75 for a member, $65 for a senior member, $85 for a non-member, and $75 for a senior non-member. Artists will be guided to develop an individual style and technique for working with oil paint.

Instructor John McAllister, a York Academy of Arts graduate and freelance artist and videographer, will help artists develop an understanding of drawing and composition, light and shadow, color, materials, and oil paint application techniques. A list of materials will be provided.

The Adult Intermediate Watercolor Painting class, a four-week course held on March 1, 8, 15, and 22, will teach composition, color usage, rules of portraiture, and various other techniques.

The cost of the workshop is $100 for members, $90 for senior members, $110 for nonmembers, and $100 for senior non-members, and is instructed by Joan Raushi, a watercolor teacher with more than a decade of experience. A materials list will be provided.

In the Adult Costumed Figure Drawing class, instructor Ted Michalowski will focus on direct drawing of a professionally costumed model.

All teen and adult skill levels are welcome. Michalowski graduated from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, in the Murry Tinkelman’s Masters of Fine Arts Illustration program. The cost of the class is $115 for members, $105 for senior members, $125 for non-members, and $115 for senior non-members, and is a four-week class held on Mondays, March 2, 9, 16, and 23 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

The Adult Acrylic Painting Workshop, a one evening class held on two Wednesdays in March, will feature a different technique during each class. On Wednesday, March 4, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, instructor Jim Smeltz will teach acrylics in a watercolor technique.

A floral painting with a hummingbird will be the subject, and the cost to attend the class is $10. During the second class on March 18, acrylics in an oil painting technique will be featured, and the subject will be a Pocono landscape. Smeltz is an experienced painter of 35 years, and his specialties include acrylics, oils, and watercolor.

The Adult Jazz Improvisation Workshop will be held on one evening, March 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Instructor Spencer Reed will help attendees explore an unstructured creation of music, as well as explaining how to apply scales, chords and rhythm, dynamics, articulation, and phrasing in order to compose new music.

The class is available to all experience levels, and the cost is $20 for members, $15 for senior members, $30 for nonmembers, and $25 for senior non-members.

The Adult Newcomers Watercolor Painting Workshop, held on two evenings in March, will teach the basic techniques needed to create a watercolor painting. Tuition is $10, and instructor Jim Smeltz will conduct the classes on both March 11 and March 25, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

The Adult: Create Your Magic Self class, held for three weeks on March 17, 24, and 31 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, will teach attendees to create a “magical vision board” using canvas, clay, and pearlescent and acrylic paint, along with other materials. Instructor Suzanne Werfelman, a well-known artist and teacher in the Pocono Region, earned her degree in Art Education from Indiana University in Bloomington.

All supplies will be provided, and the cost to attend is $75 for members, $65 for senior members, $85 for non-members, and $75 for senior nonmembers.

The Pocono Arts Council is located at 18 North Seventh Street in Stroudsburg, PA.

Office hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Email info@poconoarts.org or call 570-476-4460 for more information. Reservations for class attendance can be made online at www.poconoarts.org.

Email Erika at:
epokrivsak@live.esu.edu