Gallery Drop-in - Mini Envelopes from Decorative Paper
Sat. July 6th | Drop-in 10:00am-2:00pm
Make fun mini envelopes from decorative paper to store a treasure or give a gift! Leave with a pattern to make more at home. FREE to participate and all are welcome to come and get creative in the gallery.
Summer Studio Friday Art Classes for Kids
Friday Mornings, 9:30-11:30am, beginning July 12th!
$12 per session** | Ages 7-12
These weekly classes offer a deeper dive into the creative process in our studio. Children attend these classes without caregivers.
*Pre registration is required.
**Scholarships are available.
Family Drop-in Art Projects Under the Tent
Tuesday Mornings, 9:30-10:30am, beginning June 18th!
on the Library Arts Center Side Lawn
FREE to participate! | Projects are designed for all ages.
Join us under the tent on the side lawn of the Library and Library Arts Center for these weekly drop-ins exploring a variety of mediums and creative exploration. Spend the hour creating art in these sessions designed to engage all ages of children and adults. Parents or caregivers are asked to participate and create art alongside their children.
Gallery Drop-in Art Projects
Select Saturdays | Drop-in 10am-2pm
Library Arts Center Gallery
FREE, and all are welcome to participate!
Pop into the gallery these select Saturdays to get creative and try out new mediums, techniques and materials! Projects are designed for all ages, and all supplies and materials are provided.
June 15 – Uncle Sam Popsicle Stick Crafts
June 22 – *Flower Press Building *pre-registration required
June 29 – Patriotic Beaded Bracelets
July 6 – Mini Envelopes from Decorative Paper
July 20 – DIY Kaleidoscopes
August 17 – Painting Skies in Watercolor
September 21 – How to Paint your Pet
It's MAGIC! - Learn the Foundations of Magic
with professional magician, Bruce Cronin!
Tuesdays in July, 9:00-11:00am *pre-registration required.
Library Arts Center Gallery | ages 12-teen
Making things appear, disappear, change color, multiply… learn all the basics of magic in this fun and engaging five-week class taught by professional magician, Bruce Cronin! Using common, everyday articles such as rubber balls, coins, ropes and playing cards, Mr. Cronin will teach through Sleight of Hand how to make these objects do miraculous things. $50 per student.
*scholarships are available.
Summer Performances for Kids!
Thursday mornings in July (+Aug. 1) at 10:00am
on the Library Arts Center Side Lawn
FREE and ALL are welcome. Bring a blanket or a lawn chair.
The Summer Performances for Kids are a favorite Arts Center tradition for more than 20 years! Performances are free, fun, engaging and enriching.
July 4th – No Performance (Independence Day Holiday)
July 11th – The Little Red Wagon Theater presents “Treasure Island”
July 18th – Modern Times Theater presents The Perils of Mr. Punch
July 25th – Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate presents a Family Concert
August 1st – Bryson Lang presents Comedy + Juggling
The Summer Performances for Kids are made possible by generous funding from the Friends of the Richards Free Library.
FREE Summer Grab + Go Art Kits
New Kits each month! *while supplies last
The Library Arts Center is pleased to provide FREE monthly art kits to encourage everyone to get creative! Projects are designed for all ages. Limited quantities are available in the Library Arts Center Gallery, with new projects monthly.
June – Rainbow Beaded Bracelets
July – Beaded Wind Chimes
August – Apple Stamped Dish Cloths
Music with Friends
for infants, toddlers & preschoolers
Wednesday Mornings, 9:30am
For the Summer: Outdoors on the SIDE LAWN of the Library Arts Center
with instructor Julie Love | $12 per family, per week
Experience making music together in this class designed for babies through five year-olds and their caregivers. Music will come to life as everyone sings, dances, drums and claps, experimenting with voices, instruments and movement. *Pre–registration is required. Sign up online for specific weeks, or the whole series.
Yoga in the Gallery with Brianna
Friday Mornings| 8:30am + 10:00am in the Gallery
PLEASE NOTE: No Class on Fri. Jun. 28
Classes are designed for any student looking to practice yoga. Movement will be linked with breath (as offered by the Hatha and Kripalu traditions of yoga), as well as focus on alignment, and attention paid to honoring your own organic movement. Students can expect to practice both seated and standing poses as well as focus on balance and breath. Please bring your own mat and any props you would like.
Art Camp for Grown-Ups
Thursday Evenings, 6:30-8:30pm in the studio, beginning Jul. 13
New projects each week.
$12 per student, per session.
Why should kids have all the fun? This series is designed to get adults creating, regardless of experience or perceived creative ability; artists and complete novices alike will enjoy these sessions. Sign up for one, several, or the whole series as you see fit. Get messy, learn new techniques, and leave each session with finished art projects and the know how to make more at home. Sign up yourself, and make friends with other participants, register with friends and make a night of it, or even turn it into a date night!
CAMP NIGHTS 2024
July 11 – Sustainable Spirals: Upcycling
July 18 – Pop up Cards
July 25 – Paint + Sip (21+)
Aug. 1 – English Paper Piecing Christmas Ornaments
Aug. 8 – Painting Watercolor Flowers with Wax Resist
Aug. 15 – Water-based Silkscreen Prints
Coffee and Collage in the Studio
with instructor Christie Scott
Sundays July 21, 28, August 4, 11:00am-2:00pm each session
*Sign up for all three, or choose the ones that work for you.
Make collages based on the idea of the paint and sip. Enjoy step by step instruction in a relaxed and welcoming environment. Make a summer collage with paper you alter with paint and ink using splatter and squeegee technics. Each week will focus on a different one of these projects. Bring a cup of coffee or tea as well as a bag lunch, the rest will be provided for you. This class is perfect for beginners through more seasoned collage artists.
Collage theme by week:
July 21 – Carrots
July 28 – Pears
August 4 – Hydrangea
Gouache Workshop with Peter Granucci
Saturday and Sunday, July 20 and 21, 9:00am-2:00pm
Class Location: Peter Granucci’s studio in Gilsum NH
Gouache is a beautiful medium that more artists should consider having as a part of their “toolbox”. It is a bright and readable paint that is user friendly and inexpensive to use. There are no solvents or oils because it is water-based, so clean-up is effortless! Many artists use it for finished pieces that can be indistinguishable from oil or, it can be used more like a watercolor, except that is opaque. However it is used, it has a high reflective quality that makes it very satisfying to look at. In this class you will learn the basic techniques of gouache and will be able to produce a painting.
Landscape Painting in Watercolor with Robert J. O'Brien
Saturday July 27th, 9:30am-4:00pm
Library Arts Center Studio
This workshop will cover the basic principles of landscape painting in the watercolor medium, and will be open to all abilities with some watercolor experience suggested. Students will learn glazing techniques, use of color, composition, the importance of value and creating texture through the use of dry brush technique. Painting light and shadow will be introduced and some drawing experience is recommended. A critique and class discussion will be held at the end of the session.
Plein Air Painting Dates
Wednesday mornings in June, July + August
9:30am-12:30pm.
$8 for LAC members/$12 non-members.
Join our open studio group to paint at picturesque locations around the area en plein air this summer! The group will meet for Wednesday mornings in July & August. Bring your own art supplies and work on and paint alongside a delightful and supportive group of artists. Facilitator Heidi Lorenz will paint alongside all, but is available for light guidance and instruction if desired. This welcoming and friendly drop-in style group is available to artists of all styles and abilities!
Drop in–No pre-registration necessary.
Basket-Making Workshops with Ray Lagasse
The Library Arts Center is proud to offer these exceptional artisan basket-making workshops with artisan Ray Lagasse. Students will spend a day in the studio learning this traditional craft and will leave with a fabulous heirloom-quality basket to keep or give as a phenomenal gift. Workshops are typically offered monthly in the Arts Center studio.
Visit with Comic Author/Illustrator Marek Bennett
Tuesday, July 23 – 2:00pm on the side lawn
Free books will be provided for all children in attendance!
The Library Arts Center and Richards Free Library present a visit and presentation by comic author/illustrator Marek Bennett. We are thrilled to welcome Marek back to town. This winter, he presented a week-long artist residency at Richards School and worked with every student. Find out more about the author at marekbennett.com.
Thank you to the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) for making this opportunity possible!
Library Arts Center at the Newport Farmers Market
Select Friday Afternoons this Summer, 3:00-6:00pm
Select Fridays, June 14 & 28, July 12 & 26, and Aug. 9 & 23
*Weather Permitting
Newport Town Common
Free to participate, and all are welcome!
Join us at the Newport Farmers’ Market for free make and takes designed to be enjoyed by children and adults alike. Enjoy live music and local farm fresh shopping at the same time. *New projects each scheduled week.
Arts and Economic Prosperity Survey (AEP6)
The results are in for Sullivan County!
The arts have a tremendous economic impact in our region, and we’d love for you to find out more. Explore the data for our local region at the link below.
An Apple Cookbook is Coming!
in Celebration of the 50th Apple Pie Crafts Fair
In celebration of the 50th Apple Pie Crafts Fair coming up in August 2024, we are creating an apple-themed community cookbook! We would love to have your apple recipes in the book. Send us your best recipes featuring apple in desserts, main dishes, sides, salads etc. to the cookbook. Send recipes ASAP to applecookbook2024@gmail.com. You can also mail photocopies of your recipe cards to the LAC, or drop them off in our office any time during gallery hours.
Preserving Newport's Heritage Mural
We are beyond excited that the Library Arts Center is helping to spearhead the heritage mural reproduction in downtown Newport.
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