Doing what you love to do, and having other people enjoy it is the best! Teaching children to sculpt is just that. I find it amazing that high school students, middle schoolers, and even elementary school students in the third grade are excited to learn how to carve stone. In as little as two hours they can make an animal fetish from Brazilian soapstone.
In addition to my usual schedule of after-school classes at Roanoke City and County Schools, and adult classes at the Art Museum in Roanoke, I did a series of "two-a-day" two-hour workshops at schools in Augusta County in November. Liz Moss of the Artisan Center of Virginia arranged them as part of the Center's outreach program. It gave me a chance to visit new schools and meet new teachers and students.
Thanks to the Artis Council of the Blue Ridge for organizing the Roanoke City School program, The Art Museum of Western Virginia for the adult program, and KICS for the Roanoke County schools. And special thanks for the efforts of Nancy Newhart Farrar for the Artist in Residency at Allegheny High School, and Liz Moss at the Artisan Center of Virginia for the Augusta County program.
