Renee and Daughter Arielle (foreground) in their Functional Pottery class
Summer vacation means time off from school creating a need to find something to do that’s productive, or better yet to find a new experience or opportunity and jump into it. When most people hear the word vacation they think about going somewhere to escape the heat. One local family found a way to beat the heat right here, in Mesa. The King Family decided to forgo Europe and have a stay-cation here at Mesa Arts Center.
With over 100 classes to choose from it was hard for them to narrow their choices down to two classes a piece, especially for Olivia who did get to take three, that lucky girl!
The King family is composed of mother, Renee, father, Gerald and their four daughters Arielle, Olivia, Felicia and Julia. Instead of going to Europe, the Kings decided to learn new skills and build on their natural creative talent. They felt it would work better for them this year, because classes would last all summer long as opposed to a week’s vacation overseas. Plus the King family felt that taking a vacation out of the country wouldn’t be the same unless the whole family could go. With husband Gerald working in New Mexico, and their daughter Julia in Africa, Renee said that this was an excellent alternative.
The Kings have taken classes here at the MAC before. Renee had previously received a holiday gift of taking a clay class, so she already had an idea of how much fun these classes could be. This summer, the family took a variety of classes; Renee and Arielle took Functional Pottery together; Olivia and Felicia took Pottery Wheel Basics for Teens together; Arielle and Olivia took I Can’t Believe Its Colored Pencils together; and daughters Olivia and Felicia took Glass Flameworking with their mother Renee.
Renee (right) and Arielle (left) showing their skills on the pottery wheel
They learned a lot, built skills, and Arielle, a special education teacher of 2nd and 3rd graders, added that she hopes the skills that she has learned over the summer will translate into her classroom. We are so pleased to have such dedicated participants of our arts family that they spent the whole summer with us! We hope they will inspire others to join in on the fun!
- Christine LeCorn
(photos by Melissa Hulstrand)
athomason
Billy Jones
Christine LeCorn
Jessica Van Liew
melissahultstrand
Mesa Arts Center
Sarah Moran
Wow, what a great idea….and so much to offer. Need to check this out.
Thanks for sharing.
Great idea. I’ll have to look into this. My family and I recently took a trip to Duluth, MN, to a great indoor water park there.