Tickling the ivories at WAC

By Hope Wallace

Babies Everywhere! We wish to congratulate our Office Manager Matt Temple and his wife Erica on the birth of their daughter, Autumn Elaine, who was born over the weekend. Both mom and daughter are doing fine and plan to be home Tuesday.

Our other baby is the arrival of a stunning, 1928 A.B. Chase baby grand piano, which moved here today from Vandalia. The piano was donated by Joseph and Annette Atkins who wanted their piano to find a good home in a not-for-profit organization and chose the Wassenberg Art Center over several applicants. Seth Baker, an accomplished pianist, facilitated the transition, inspection and proper transport and was able to take the piano keys for a brief test run this morning. We are very grateful and humbled by the generosity of the Atkins and will treasure this quality instrument for years to come. The piano is required to rest for a few weeks after being transported; it will then be tuned and ready to make more music!

This Sunday, April 26, our High School Invitational will begin with a free, public opening reception from 1–5 p.m. Awards will be presented in both 2-D and 3-D and we will feature live music performed by students during the event. A free hot dog bar will be available to stave off the munchies and our own ArtReach students will present a puppet show at 4 p.m. of the children’s classic, Frederick, by Leo Leonni. (Frederick is a mouse whose skills don’t necessarily fall in-line with typical mouse skills, however he brings to his mouse family a meaningful gift). This exhibit will be on-view until May 15.

Our next Vine & Palette is scheduled for Thursday, May 7 from 6:30–9 p.m. The warmer weather is a great excuse to come on out and paint with us. Soon we might be able to go outside! The session includes all painting materials and first glass of wine. Participants may bring a snack to share if they wish. We even provide aprons, because we like to get messy! The cost is $30 for members and $35 for non-members. (21 and over)

Our ongoing watercolor class continues on Tuesday mornings from at 10 a.m.–noon and the instructor is Pat Rayman. Persons are encouraged to jump in anytime and the class is sold in monthly increments. $35 for members and $40 for non-members.

Pottery Class with Brandon Knott begins tonight at 6 p.m. Sign up now! This class fills quickly and for good reason! This will be another 8-week long course ending on June 10. New techniques are going to be explored and as the weather warms we’ll take to the outdoors and dig holes for raku! Materials are included.

We are announcing another acrylic painting class with Pat Rayman scheduled for May 8, 15, 22 and 29 from 10 a.m. until noon. The class will learn composition and color value to create light and shadow effects, night scenes building texture and more. Materials required are basic acrylic paints in assorted colors, brushes, palette for color mixing (we use foam plates), canvas boards, panels or watercolor paper.

We are already preparing for the Annual June Art Exhibit. Art check-in days are scheduled for May 23 and 24 from 1-5 p.m. A call-for-entries form will be going out and available on our website soon. We encourage all regional artists both amateur and professional to enter. Show us what you’ve got.

For more information on exhibits or to sign for classes and events visit wassenbergartcenter.org. The Wassenberg Art Center is located at 214 South Washington Street (former Van Wert Armory). We can also be reached by telephone at: 419.238.6837, email: info@wassenbergartcenter.org and our website is: wassenbergartcenter.org.