SO EXCITED!!!… Summer Camp starts today!!!

After far too many months of quarantine, sheltering-in-place and e-learning… it’s so exciting that we’re ready to teach kids again!!! My camp this week is a Sculpture Camp… sadly no field trip to the Art Institute this year, but we’ll make up for it with a lot of art history, clay projects & amazing sculptures made by the kids!!! So exciting to be starting up again… with a LOT of proper precautions in place. Fewer camps, fewer campers, lots of new guidelines, more cleaning and a LOT of social distancing!!!

Looks like the new Wheelthrowing Classroom is all ready to go… which is great because Lillstreet Art Center officially re-opens tomorrow with a lot of improvements & remodeling done for better social distancing to keep all of the students & teachers safe… and we’re all VERY eager to get back to making muddy messes on the wheels!!!

So if a handbuilding classroom suddenly gets a couple pottery wheels… is it still called a HANDBUILDING room?! More changes happening at Lillstreet as we prepare for more social-distancing when we re-open soon!

So good to see all of these hand sanitizer dispensers “popping up” in every classroom at Lillstreet Art Center as we prepare to re-open in a couple weeks!!! So excited to go back, to start teaching again, to see everyone again… and to see that we’re going to be following all of the guidelines to keep everyone safe!!!

And here’s a view of the “original” Wheel C classroom… now spaced out with “alternating” wheels for “social-distancing” when we get back to pottery classes at Lillstreet. It’s so weird to see so few wheels in there… I’m accustomed to teaching in there with eighteen wheels all going at the same time!!! It’s going to take some getting used to this… and I hope we make it back to the full eighteen wheels & eighteen students some time real soon?!

Things are coming along nicely in the new Wheelthrowing B classroom at Lillstreet. With some special “socially-distant-bench-dividers” between the wheels, lots of new shelving… and quite possibly the cleanest & tightest canvased tabletops ever!!!

Looking forward to seeing students back at Lillstreet when we finally get to open again… the “new” Summer Session is currently scheduled to begin July 6th!!!

Dramatic sunset effects drifting above Lillstreet… sometimes it pays off to look away… and to see what’s behind you even when a stunning sunset is in front of you!

Looks like the remodeling at Lillstreet is coming along nicely… gradually preparing to open again to the public for classes starting in July! Hopefully. Of course we all know a LOT can happen between now & then… but they’re trying their best to make it safer & healthier for everyone when classes start again!

And look at all those new shelves waiting to be filled with pots!!!

While everyone was quarantined during this corona-craziness, Lillstreet Art Center created a page on their website to help some of their artists during the tough times. Knowing that many of us were facing cancelled art fairs, loss of teaching gigs and no workshops… they created MADE AT LILLSTREET. An online gallery featuring several of their “in-house” artists, teachers & studio members. Please feel free to click on this link to see my current offerings through the Lillstreet Gallery.

There is still a lot of activity & remodeling going on at Lillstreet Art Center as they prepare for us to resume classes very soon. They’re trying their best to keep us all safe & healthy… and yet get back to the friends & community we love!

And to that point…
looks like there’s a new wheelthrowing classroom coming together too!