The gift of learning

by Lori Bradley

One Christmas Eve, my brother and I were romping around in the living room and crashed into our Christmas tree, sending the glass star on top onto the floor, shattering into tiny pieces. Immediately, my kid brain envisioned going around to the local 24-hour drug store and picking up an elaborate replacement like a plastic angel topper, preferably one robed in lots of glittery white tulle. To my annoyance, my brother, who was taking wood shop classes in school, offered to cut us a wooden star.

Wanting the glitziest tree on our street, I wasn’t thrilled with the rustic crookedness of the star, but I joined my brother in covering it with gold spray paint and then a generous coating of glitter. When we finished, we put it back on the tree and I thought it wasn’t too bad. In the right light, it looked like it was glowing. We’d had fun making it, my mother treasured the handmade star, and we still laugh about it decades later. Making handmade decorations became a family tradition and our holiday tree became less showy and a lot more loved – covered with our handmade ornaments and found objects.

This year, stores have been filled with mounds of plastic holiday and gift items since Labor Day. The stores and the countless online shopping sites makes me think about how holiday cast-offs end up in landfills and waterways. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces 5 pounds of trash per day. During the holidays, that amount rises to 6.25 pounds per person per day, or 43.75 pounds each week. With a population of 330 million people, that means 2,887,500,000 more pounds of garbage are generated per week during the holidays relative to the rest of the year.

Wanting to participate in the tradition of holiday giving, but no longer wanting to add to the future glut of holiday trash, I’m considering gifting time and experience this year instead of objects. Education is one of the most rewarding gifts to give to a loved one, and participating in arts classes can spark a creative lifetime habit. Giving the gift of learning doesn’t take up landfill space, and while some products may be required to learn a new skill or produce a craft object, the chances are that the results be kept longer if made by hand and filled with positive memories of making it.

Creative classes and workshops

Of course, there are many beautiful handmade gifts to purchase in local galleries, shops, and studios this time of year, but if you want to inspire someone to create their own, the South Coast is home to many artists offering workshops and courses in their studios. At the Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford, painter Catherine Carter offers painting and design classes to children from the ages of 9 to 12. With over 25 years of experience as a professional artist and educator, Catherine shares valuable experience and a passion for art with her students. Students extend their regular school art experience by taking classes with Catherine during school breaks, after school, and on weekends. The adventure of meeting professional artists at work is one of the great joys of attending classes in a large studio building. Gift cards for classes are available at CatherineCarterPainting. com.

“My program teaches traditional drawing and painting techniques with colored pencils, watercolor and acrylic paints, to illustrate portraits, landscape, still-life, and abstracts,” says Carter. “Classes are kept small (capped at 8 seats) so students can receive careful individualized instruction.”

Located within a creative community of more than 65 professional artists, classes often include field trips to visit neighboring artists’ studios to view their work. During Hatch Street Studios' annual open studios event, Carter hosts a student art show so that their artwork can be seen and appreciated by family members, friends, and the hundreds of guests who attend every year.

Local artist Karen Zukas hosts a variety of professional art instructors at the New Bedford Art and Culture Emporium at Kilburn Mills in the New Bedford’s South End. Classes are designed to be fun and facilitate interaction and encourage new friendships with other creatively inclined people. Aspiring artists and crafters of all ages will enjoy a gift certificate to fun, short classes that range from painting pet portraits and botanicals to felting, sewing, and creating paper flowers. New classes are offered each session. Emporium workshops are perfect experiential gifts for friends and family to enjoy together, and some instructors provide all the materials needed to complete a project. More information and class listings can be found at nbartsandculturalemporium.com.

People don’t usually consider their local library as a venue for creative classes, but many local libraries offer an active schedule of workshops, and many are free. Affordable library classes are perfect to give as a gift to a group of friends or family. The Fall River Public Library Main Branch offers creative classes every season of the year including painting, holiday crafts, and fabric dying. Artists sometimes receive Massachusetts Cultural Council grants funding and offer their courses at local libraries for free. A helpful central location to find South Coast library websites and classes is through Sails Library Network at sailsinc.org.

Online art

Online classes can be excellent gifts for those interested in a more intensive, longerterm creative learning experience. They also offer more flexibility in scheduling. South Coast residents are fortunate to live nearby a worldclass art college with a full schedule of online courses, and many can be taken without enrolling in a degree program. The Rhode Island School of Design in Providence has classes for teens and adults ranging from character animation to jewelry making and design for adults and teens. And, if an online course inspires a desire for additional learning, in-person non-credit courses are available, as well as certificate programs. More information and course listings are at ce.risd.edu/ adult-programs.

If you aren’t sure of someone’s specific art interests or don’t want to commit a gift recipient to a class date and time, there are many open subscription memberships available. One of the best online art education services is the Artists Network –artistsnetwork.com. A gift of a yearly Artists Network membership unlocks access to hundreds of creative online classes taught through video by a national selection of professional artists in addition to a monthly newsletter and an active online networking community.

Shopping locally

Someone new to creating might need to do some supply shopping before attending a class or workshop. An art supply gift certificate is a nice pairing gift with a class or workshop. Providence is home to two of the largest art supply stores in the country: Dick Blick on Wickendon Street and Jerry’s Artarama on North Main Street have shelves lined with art making products available from paints, decorative papers, and canvas to animation supplies. Both employ friendly, expert staff who are ready to help find just the right art product for a project. Gift certificates are available at the local stores and online.

For a smaller, local art supply shopping experience, the cozy Art Loft on Water Street in Fairhaven offers a range of high-quality professional painting and drawing supplies in addition to crafts for sale by local artists. Workshops and classes are also available at the Art Loft and are taught by popular local artists with multiple session or drop-in sessions available. More information is available at artloftfairhaven.com.

At the core, giving the gift of learning is an invitation to escape the everyday through a process that builds joy. In his book Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning, Tom Vanderbilt states, “But what if we don't want to become virtuoso musicians or renowned artists? What if we only want to dabble in these things, to see if they might subtly change our outlook on the world or even, as we try to learn them, change us? What if we just want to enjoy them?”

The gift of learning can change the recipient for a lifetime whether this is through the temporary thrill of learning a skill, making a cherished object while making new friends, or developing a lifelong passion that leads to a career.