Alabama River Region Arts Center

Volume 1, Issue 9 July 2011

The ARRAC Update

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Brainstorm Births ARTS Clubs House the Birds HOBOs Dinner Web Site News Sit & Sew Bluegrass Jam Sewing the Extra Mile August Classes About us 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4

Brainstorm Lunch Births Kids ARTS Clubs

Goal is to encourage creativity and help the family budget!
Continuing to meet on Thursdays for lunch and brainstorming regarding making plans has resulted in our outreach for kids, ARTS Clubs, in the Fall. Jon Masters, Bluegrass Jam and gallery guitarist, came to our last meeting. He will be the leader of our Childrens ARTS/Guitar Club, which begins Sept. 8, as will the Clay Club and Drawing/Painting Club. Clubs will run concurrently from 4:00 pm 4:50 pm and from 5:00 pm 5:50 pm on Thursdays. Cost for one month (4 weeks) of a Club is $20! A new paid individual or family 2011 membership at ARRAC will also give you an extra 2 weeks FREE. Age limits and Club size vary with each club. Registration is on a first-come basis. Stop by the Center or email us at director@arrac.org for more information. Guitar Club will be a One-Room schoolhouse of children (ages 10 -18) where novices and total beginners can come and learn how to play on acoustical guitars (and ukuleles, hopefully) from one of our regular Bluegrass Jam guitar players, Jon Masters. This will be an authentic American-roots-focused music after-school club, designed to keep the music-loving familys budget, happy. Clay Club, lead by Austin Thompson, sculptor/puppeteer/ ARRAC Board member and Cains Chapel staff member, will use polymer/ sculpey clay to teach techniques of form and sculpture. Animals, natural and their fantastic counterparts will be created in Clay Club. Ages welcome; 7 18.

Austins work

Drawing/Painting Club will be lead by Marty McIntyre, a graphic designer. Marty has taught homeschool art classes for all ages. Children who love to draw or want to learn more about drawing and painting are welcome. Basic techniques will be taught and children will be encouraged to keep sketchbooks to share and present weekly at Club. This will encourage self-confidence and self-esteem as creative avenues are explored and built upon. Children ages 7 - 18 are welcome.
Jon Masters

Alabama River Region Arts Center is a 501 (c) 3 Non-profit organization.

www.arrac.org

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The ARRAC Update/July2011

Board of Directors
The Founding Board has now transitioned to the following Board of Directors. BOARD of DIRECTORS Rick Bowman Business owner, Potter Geoff McIntyre Professor Don Mobley Business owner, Musician Austin Thompson Youth Minister, Puppet Troupe Owner/Creative Director Marilyn Winborn Business owner, Jewelry Artist Registered agent Frank L. Sullivan

House the Birds: an Extreme Makeover

Sharon Ervin, dedicated ARRAC member, volunteered to give one of the Humane Society of Elmore Countys plain hand-made birdhouses an extreme makeover for their Bone-a-fit Silent Auction, held 7/29/11 at the Wetumpka Civic Center. Her finished results were stunning! She even did roofing work. Two more birdhouses remain at ARRAC. These will also benefit the Humane Society at their next event, Annual Bark in the Park, to be held Sept 25th. These may be picked up by ARRAC members for artistic decorating. Please return to ARRAC so they may be photographed for inclusion on our web site and Facebook page. Thanks Sharon for dusting off your paintbrushes and for sharing your talents with us all.

Volunteer Coordinator Needed

director@arrac.org

Web site news

Major web site changes do not come easy or quick, especially when we have a lot of things to update! Thanks for your patience as we get the whole web site and ARRAC information updated. Check our Facebook page daily also, for important news. It is a great way to leave comments and questions for all to see.

HOBOs Dinner
Through a series of unplanned events, ARRAC was asked to come and speak before the Lake Jordan Home Owners & Boat Owners Association meeting held Monday, July 25, at Nuevo Ranchito. Marty McIntyre and Dawn Sullivan came and Marty presented information on one of Lake Jordans former resident artists, John Kelly Fitzgerald, as well as the mission, goals and plans of the Alabama River Region Arts Center. The response was welcoming and encouraging. Graciously, the HOBOs have included ARRACs upcoming Bluegrass Jam on their web site news of the lake region. HOBO is open to all who are interested in preserving, protecting, and enhancing the quality of life of all living things around the lake as it pertains to recreation, water quality, and fishing. You can find out more about the group on their web site http://www.lakejordanhobo.org.

New mailing address for the Arts Center: 300 West Tallassee Street Wetumpka, AL 36092
Bringing the River Region Together Through All the Arts

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The ARRAC Update/July2011

Yall are welcome

Sit & Sew

You have a sewing project and one day you get stuck and are unsure of what direction to go next. Or perhaps, you have just lost interest in a project and need a friend to work it out with. Or better yet, your dining room table is already so loaded with craft projects you couldnt cut out a dolls skirt pattern, let alone one for you. ARRAC fiber/quilting member Dawn Sullivan, is volunteering her time and sewing machine expertise on Bluegrass Saturdays from 9:00 am 12:00 pm for Sit & Sew sessions. ARRAC members are welcome to come for FREE and bring their; patterns to cut out, sewing machines, stymied quilting projects, or frustrating sewing projects. Non-ARRAC members will be charged $10 (flat fee) for Sit & Sew. Now is the time to follow through on getting an ARRAC membership. Senior/student category memberships are only $20! Family memberships are $40. Check out web site or come by the Center for forms.

Bluegrass Jams!

Aug. 6: 9 am 12 pm
All ages & skill levels welcome.

Sewing the Extra Mile

In Roman days, Going the extra mile, meant willingly carrying a soldiers backpack or burden for more than the mandatory Roman mile of 1000 paces. At the ARRAC, it means extending a 3 hour one-day workshop to 5 hours. Dawn Sullivans Hand Piecing workshop was held 7/16/11. Scheduled to end at noon, Dawn extended her class to make sure her students Janet Baker and Amy Smith grasped the skills she had introduced enough that they could continue on their own. At the ARRAC we aim to teach new skills and light creative fires. The first class you take can be the first step to a new creative outlet. Heres what Janet had to say about her experience: Dawn, I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated you taking the time to teach the quilt class to myself and Amy Smith on Saturday 7/16/11, especially since it was just the two of us. Thank you for staying late and going above and beyond what most people would have done to make sure that we learned a little bit about every aspect that goes into making a quilt, as well as the little tidbits you told us about the different quilting experiences you have had in your life, which only made it that [much] more interesting. I don't think I will ever be able to make a single stitch without thinking of the lady who said "you could hang a toenail in those stitches"!!! haha! Anyway, needless to say, now I have been out on the internet and even bought my first quilt magazine, and already having ideas in my head about two quilts that I would like to try and make. I know, I said I would not go crazy, but I lied!! Again, thanks for all of your help and inspiration, and I will definitely try to come to another class when you have one! Thanks, Janet! We will keep you informed of the next class!

Alabama River Region Arts Center is a 501 (c) 3 Non-profit organization.

www.arrac.org

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The ARRAC Update/July2011

Forms/information online www.arrac.org.

Upcoming Classes:
Crochet Socks
Fri. 8/5 & 8/19 10-12 pm

Clay Slab 3, 4

Sat. 8/6 & 8/13 Beg. techniques 9-12 pm

Sit & Sew

Sat. 8/6 Sewing help, cut/work space 9-12 pm

Wire Wrap Jewelry

Sat. 8/13 & 8/27 Learn the basics. 9-12 pm

Hand Piecing
Sat. 8/13 Quilting 9-12 pm

Pine Needle Basket

Sat. 8/20 9-12 pm

Guitar Club

Thurs. 9/8 4-5 pm & 5-6 pm

Clay Club

Thurs. 9/8 4-5 pm & 5-6 pm

Drawing/Painting Club
Thurs. 9/8 4-5 pm & 5-6 pm

Check Online for the Newest Class List

ARRA C Upd a te Contact Editor/E-Mail: Marty195@gmail.com 195 Blackberry Rd. Deatsville, AL 36022 Phone: (334) 569-3761

Were on the Web!

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About Us
The Founding members are composed of local Artist from varied disciplines that have a common goal to create a public non-profit organization based in Wetumpka, Alabama focusing on nurturing all categories of arts in the River Region. The Arts Center is a volunteer based, community supported organization that will derive its funding from public and private donations, contributions, grants benefactors and the proceeds from memberships, Artist Space, Rentals, Gallery Art Sales and special events.

www.arrac.org Join us on Facebook Alabama-RiverRegion-Arts-Center

Editor ARRAC Update 195 Blackberry Rd. Deatsville, AL 36022

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