February 8, 2021 at 12:15 p.m.
Nicolet College promotes spring programs for School of the Arts, Garden Series
Nicolet College promotes spring programs for School of the Arts, Garden Series
By Stephanie Kuski-
Nicolet's spring community education offerings have been reduced from its typical capacity because most of those classes are offered virtually. However, between February and May, the college is offering 18 non-credit classes as part of their School of the Arts program and new Garden Series, the latter of which is associated with the Northwoods Community Garden that broke ground last fall at Nicolet and is set to open to the public this spring. Most of the classes are virtual, but some of the Garden Series programs will be hosted on campus with masks and social distancing required.
Melinda Childs, who holds a collaborative position between ArtStart and Nicolet College as their community and cultural development director, noted the spring School of the Arts courses are promoted as "teaser classes" because their hope is to resume the program in-person come fall, if all fares well in terms of the state of the coronavirus pandemic.
The School of the Arts is a partnership between ArtStart and Nicolet that was originally coordinated by the University of Wisconsin Continuing Studies Division. At its heyday, Childs said hundreds of emerging artists from across the state and beyond came to Rhinelander for week-long art immersion courses. Although that program has waned throughout the years, ArtStart has taken on the reins to reimagine the effort and continue its mission with the School of the Arts Legacy Program.
Most of the School of the Arts programming in 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19, so the hope is to continue facilitating that effort in a virtual format with the goal of continuing those classes as a concentrated, immersive and in-person program when it becomes safe to do so.
"Hopefully people can get a little taste of what's at School of the Arts," Childs said, "and then that will entice them to come when they can have (classes) in-person again."
Several School of the Arts classes will be offered at various times this spring with the hope of adding more programs later on. Currently all of the arts programming will be hosted virtually via Zoom, but Childs noted the classes will be interactive and participants will be equipped with all the supplies they need to take part in the class.
On Thursday, Feb. 25, local visual artist Jaron Childs will teach "Drawing Mindfully," in which participants will learn how to be more mindful and observant about the world around them as they draw.
On Wednesday, March 10, Fond du Lac-based artist Mel Kolstad will teach "Scratch Printmaking" where artists will be scratching designs onto a small Plexiglas plate by running it over with their cars. Kolstad will also be featured during ArtStart's spring exhibition at the same time her class is hosted.
Past School of the Arts instructor Debra Jircik will explore printing on paper and cloth using plants in her "Botanical Contact Printing" class on Saturday, March 20.
Angela Johnson will host "Creative Art Journaling" on Saturday, May 1, in which students will learn a variety of journaling techniques.
Nicolet College is also hosting a Garden Series that will take place both virtually and on campus at the new Northwoods Community Garden. A section of the garden will be a teaching space dedicated to educating residents and tourists about local growing.
"They really have a vision for the garden to be more than community garden plots," Childs said. "We want there to be opportunities for the garden to be an educational resource, so one area of the garden will be an education garden focused around indigenous gardening and farming, medicinals and plant-based fibers for arts and crafts. We did a small series of lectures this spring contextualizing those... then hopefully in the summer and fall, we'll be able to offer some in-person, hands-on classes."
The Garden Series includes non-credit courses like "Herbs: A Living Apothecary," "Traditional Farming and Foods in the Northwoods," "How to Grow Your Own Color and Plant-Based Fibers," as well as hands-on practice in the Northwoods Community Garden. Those classes will also run on various days from February through May.
Although the School of the Arts and the Garden Series are technically separate, they do merge together in exciting ways. For example, Jircik is a local artist who uses indigo dye. Since indigo will be planted at the Northwoods Community Garden, she will be able to teach classes with indigo harvested on-site come summer and fall.
This way, merging art with nature provides unique opportunities for both artists and gardeners to look forward to.
Anyone in the community is welcome to sign up for the non-credit community education classes. Those interested can register online at https://nicoletce.tix.com. More information can also be found under the "community" tab on the homepage of Nicolet's website.
Those interested can also request a brochure listing all of Nicolet College's community education spring offerings by emailing [email protected]. Call (715) 365-4544 for more information.
Stephanie Kuski may be reached at stephanie@rivernews online.com.
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