“Experience ‘Art’ at the Villages Folk School”

                  
              
     By now I’m sure most of you have read about or at least heard about the Villages Folk School. Maybe your curiosity has been stirred but you haven’t taken that next step to register for one of the many classes offered. Well, what are you waiting for? Go to our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com and find the class that interests you most. Now you simply print the registration form online, fill it out, and mail it to our office at PO Box 51, Bonaparte, IA 52520. Or, for a more personal touch, call our office at 319-592-3700 and Gloria will help you with your registration. However you choose to do it, I assure you an experience of a lifetime awaits you at the Villages Folk School.

     Maybe painting is something you always wanted to try. On May 14th and 15th we are offering a Portrait Workshop in Pastel & Oil taught by Gin Lammert. This is going to be a thrill for all of us here at the Villages Folk School as this workshop will be held at the historic Vernon schoolhouse in Wendell Mohr’s private studio where he created his many wonderful works of art. Don’t miss this opportunity to share the experience of painting in the very studio where Wendell Mohr painted!

     Have you ever wanted to try your hand at pottery? Coming up on Saturday, May 7th is Betty Printy’s popular “Raku Pottery” class. In this class you will pick your pottery piece, do your very own glazing scheme, and carry it to the “top hat” kiln where it will be fired to perfection as you anxiously await the outcome. The uniqueness of each piece in Raku pottery adds to the thrill of the moment when they emerge from the kiln.

     Maybe you would like to experience an archeological dig and discover 150 year old pieces of pottery. On May 7th and 8th you can do just that at the Bonaparte Pottery Experience. Some of the molds that have been discovered were used to pour new pieces, have been fired and are ready for you to glaze and complete in the kiln.

     Like to try your hand at blacksmithing? Learn from one of the best as Bill Printy and his apprentice, Mark Heisdorffer, show you how to make your own tongs on the forges at Iron and Lace.

     Do you have an old chair that needs the cane seat replaced? Vern Ramsey is teaching a class on chair caning with fiber rush weave this month at the folk school.

     Maybe the great outdoors interests you! Raymond and Connie Morris will take you there as they show you where to see the birds that make scenic Van Buren County their migratory path.

     On May 28th another great artist, John Preston, will teach you how to Paint the Landscape.

Villages Folk School class schedule for May:

Raku Pottery, 7 May; Bonaparte Pottery Experience, 7-8 May; Blacksmithing (Tong Making), 14-15 May; Chair Caning with Fiber Rush Weave, 14 May; Portrait Workshop in Pastel & Oil, 14-15 May; Spring and Fall Birdwatching, 21 May; Painting the Landscape, 28 May.

     Call us today at 319-592-3700 or go to our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com and make your dream of ‘living the arts’ come alive.