A creative experiment

Lateria Flye created a piece of wearable art when she designed beads during a jewelry-making class last week.

Her peers also found their creative outlets with the bead-making and jewelry class taught by Helen Towner. The class was one of two held this summer at the Cape Area Family Resource Center and sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

The first class was "Adventures in Art" that let students make paper, do weavings and etchings. Instructor Kelly Hughes geared the class to younger children while the older students enjoyed Towner's course.

Krista Boyer used her creative talents to make medallions from Sculpey clay that showed the Chinese symbols for fish and mother during the second class.

About 12 children spent the week learning about art and jewelry-making techniques during an hour-and-a-half class each day.

"The kids have been eating this up," said Denise Lincoln, manager for the resource center. "We'd like to do more of them."

This is the first year that the arts council has moved two of its summer youth classes off-site. Most of the courses are taught at Southeast Missouri State University, but an "Introduction to Art" class and the "Beads, Baubles and Bangles" classes seemed suitable for a move, said director Rebecca Fulgham.

"They didn't need specific equipment or space," she said. And both instructors were interested in teaching students in south Cape Girardeau.

Many of the students who attended the classes wouldn't have had the opportunity otherwise because transportation and cost would have made it prohibitive.

But Lincoln secured some donations to cover her expenses and the arts council used seed money remaining from another project. "We thought we'd try it as an experiment," Fulgham said. "And we've both been exceedingly happy with the results and and to do it on an annual basis."

Artwork created by students in the summer courses offered by the arts council will be on display at the gallery in August.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126