IN-PERSON

The first week will be a review of the basics of working with watercolor. Really, there aren't many. Topics will be chosen at this time for the remaining 5 sessions. The group will decide what they want to explore. Anything goes. This is a great way for beginners to give the medium a try. If you are new to watercolor check with Nancy before purchasing supplies.

Nancy Blatz has been teaching watercolor workshops at Senior College for many years. She is a member of the Mid Coast Art Guild. Over the years she has attended many workshop with established watercolor artists. A former Math teacher in NY, she has been retired since 1998.

Note: This course may be cancelled due to low enrollment. Registration has been turned off while this decision is being made.

IN-PERSON

In this hands-on art course, artist Sandi Cirillo, along with Juliet Baker, will introduce you to some of the many fine African American artists from the Harlem Renaissance. By studying the works of several artists, you will incorporate some of their styles and themes into your own drawings and paintings. Together, Sandi and Juliet, will also shed light on other music, poetry, theatre, and literature from this period. The Harlem Renaissance had evolved during the Great Migration, a movement during the 20's and 30's, which brought thousands of Southern Blacks to work in the Northern factories. Extraordinary artists of all kinds had settled in northern cities, most famously in New York's Harlem. Here, finally, the wealth of Negro arts and literature could become public. At the same time Blacks began wrestling with questions about Black or Negro identity. We will consider these issues along with our review of the period’s arts. You will be painting and drawing. You also will see videos, hear music, and discuss other literary and musical contributions from the 1920’s. All materials will be provided.

Sandi Cirillo has been a teacher at Senior College for over 9 years, teaching various courses in drawing, art history and fiber. She is a fiber artist and has been teaching classes all over the Northeast for many years, working with various arts organizations and businesses and as well as artist in residence programs. She is currently represented at Local Color Gallery in Belfast and has her studio in Searsport.

Juliet Baker, focusing on literature, has taught at Senior College for many years as well, everything from "A Study of Gilgamesh" to "A Year with Charles Dickens" to a "Feminist Reading of Jane Eyre". Recently she taught a ZOOM course on Zora Neale Hurston and "Their Eyes were watching God", a course on Black American poetry, and in the Fall of 2022, a course on banned books, Critica