July 21, 2014 at 2:33 p.m.
School of the Arts back for 51st year of broadening people's horizons
School of the Arts back for 51st year of broadening people's horizons
A lot has changed over the last half century, but one thing remains the same - the goal of all involved with School of the Arts to create an environment for people to expand their horizons.
"School of the Arts is a place for people to gather for interdisciplinary arts," director Lynn Tarnoff said. "When you say arts, you're probably thinking about painting or coloring, but we're talking writing, studying the body, mind and spirit, culinary arts and nutrition, visual arts that range from photography to painting with beeswax - which is called encaustics - to water colors. We go for true variety.
"This year we've got 150 people coming to pick from 40 different classes from all of these different disciplines. Then they cross-fertilize and have a sense of community with other artists - artists in the broadest sense. We've got drummers, people learning to play native flute, painters, so people can do all kinds of different things from morning to afternoon and that doesn't exist elsewhere."
The schedule of the sessions is set in stone, but the schedules of the attendees is up to them. People can pick and choose what classes they want to take and what days they want to take them.
"People can come for one day, the weekend, or the whole five days straight," Tarnoff said.
"There are also community events that are open and free to the whole community whether you're attending as a registered participant taking a workshop or not."
More information on the schedule of the sessions can be found at http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/
conferences/school-of-the-arts-rhinelander/agenda.html. For the public classes, all people have to do is "just show up to James Williams Middle School," Tarnoff said.
With a half of a century in the books, it would be near impossible to figure out how many people have attending classes each year, though one thing is for sure, a big group is destined to show up.
"It's just incredible. This is my fourth year, but some of the folks here have been coming for 10, 15, 20 years, and yet we always get a lot of new people as well," Tarnoff said.
"When people walk in, they'll see people they remember and can share stories about other classes and things like that with each other and it's almost like a nice reunion for a lot of them while bringing in the new attendees as well. There's a phrase that has been used for a long time that this is the week people wait for every year."
School of the Arts isn't just a boon for those participating. It's also a big deal for the city itself, said Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dana DeMet.
"Having this in Rhinelander for over 50 years is great because it's shown itself to be viable and engaging and meaningful for all the participants and people who have come through over the years," he said. "And, in the end, it's bringing people into our area. In any numbers, I think that's a great thing."
The people attending think it's a pretty great program as well.
"I look forward to seeing the schedule every year," participant Jane Sickamore said. "Each year I try to do something different. I'll try writing classes one year before switching over to painting, then maybe some music. Who knows where I'll end up each year. That's part of the fun."
School of the Arts runs through Wednesday.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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