It's time for art class and everybody's giggling, getting messy and their fingers are smudged completely black from their new charcoal crayons (which are way better than pencils).
"Why should kindergartners have all the fun?" Verla O'Donovan asks a neighbor and she scrawls out her own name in thick whorls of charcoal.
"Now that's pretty," she says.
O'Donovan is a retired attorney. She and her charcoal-smeared classmates are taking a class with Outreach Art Tutoring for Seniors (OATS) at the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Branch Library, 800 N. Schisler Drive.
OATS is a free program offered by the Drawing Studio, a not-for-profit artists' cooperative in Tucson. The eight-week class is a chance to take real art lessons from local artists. All experience levels are welcome from amateur doodlers to hopeless beginners.
People are also reading…
"You're never too old to start making art," said Pat Dolan, senior program coordinator at The Drawing Studio.
There are OATS programs at six Pima County libraries. The Drawing Studio also puts on programs at several local community centers, Dolan said.
At the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. location, OATS proved so popular that the class filled up in less than one day, said Meg Macleish an adult-services librarian.
"We got more than we expected . . . and we're delighted with the response," she said.
The library and The Drawing Studio hope to offer another OATS program in January, Macleish said.
The Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. class has 18 students and meets for an hour and a half every Thursday.
At each student's seat is a name tag made on the first day of class. On this particular Thursday, every seat also has an orange or a pear and in some cases a bell pepper. The students are using charcoal crayons to make their fruits and peppers pop out on the page in three dimensions.
Heather Hagge, one of the tutors, walks around the room helping the students with their drawings, dispensing invaluable art advice.
"Don't panic if you go home and blow your nose and there's a little bit of charcoal dust that comes out," she says. "I kinda freaked out the first time that happened to me."
Hagge said that volunteering has taught her a lot about her own art.
"You learn a lot. You learn probably more than you give. As you learn to teach you learn to correct your own mistakes."
The Drawing Studio has 25 tutors who volunteer to teach classes. All of them are artists themselves. The library provides the space and the students. The studio provides the teachers and the supplies, Dolan said.
"We're trying to create a sense of community between the participants and the tutors. And love of tutoring is expanding their own artwork," she said.
The tutors are good at what they do. Scan your eyes across every student's paper and the pictures of fruit pretty much resemble fruit.
"That's supposed to be an orange," O'Donovan says pointing at a drawing. She doesn't seem to believe it. But she's being modest, it's a pretty good orange. "I have no career ambitions as an artist, obviously," she says.
Jack Yancick, a retired union representative, was so eager to keep drawing that he broke the rules. He colored in the bananas after drawing them.
One step at a time, Jack.
"I'm still learning to follow instructions," he says.
Yancick said he figured that it was as good a time as any to take an art class. His hobby is woodcarving, but he thought the class would help him return to some art basics. He even brought a friend.
"We're just a couple of old woodcarvers. We had to stop (drawing) for 40 years and make a living. Now we're trying to get back in the picture a bit and learn something new," he said.
all areas
Faculty concerned about changes to U of A admissions policy
