Youth Classes

BIG AND BOLD: the Art and Abstractions of Leon Polk Smith

Fall Break Art Camp

Prairie Arts Center is excited to once again partner with the OSU Museum of Art for this year's Fall Break Camp. This 3-day camp will begin on Wednesday, October 18th with a visit to the museum for an interactive tour of Leon Polk Smith: Affinities in Art and Design. Just as the exhibition does, we will follow native Oklahoman Smith on his journey of simplification and abstraction. We will use elements of nature and everyday objects as our starting point, making paintings and sculptures that sing with simplicity, clean lines and bold colors! Students should bring a lunch and snack, and come dressed for the weather and making messes.

Parent and Teacher Resources

Welcome to the Prairie Arts Center Parent and Teacher Resources page. Once a month we will feature a successful lesson plan from past Art Academy classes, summer camps, or other youth and/or outreach programming here at Prairie. Lessons will include enough detail, context, and resources to execute at home or in the classroom. It is our hope that this will be a valuable, shared resource among educators and parents in our community and beyond. We would be happy to receive feedback, social media tags, and suggestions!

Kids Studio August 1st-4th

This summer's Kids' Art Studio will be an Encore! of our Artists in the Spotlight summer camps. We will take our inspiration from artists Alan Shields (Tuesday), Gabriel Orozco (Wednesday), Henri Matisse (Thursday), and Etel Adnan (Friday). Even though returning students may be familiar with the artists and their work, the projects will be new. Unlike summer camp, students may attend one day, all four, or anything in between.

Handprints of My Present and Future Self

This lesson is an ideal way to incorporate art making and slow looking into the process of students getting to know one another at the beginning of the year. It is an activity I’ve seen used in therapeutic settings as well because it encourages self-reflection and a positive, imagined future self. It could also be modified to connect to a language arts lesson that seeks to build comprehension of symbols and symbolism or even to curriculum relating to archaeology and/or pre-literary human history.

Artists In The Spotlight 2023

Artists In the Spotlight

We are happy to announce a full six-week roster of summer art camps this year for children ages 6-14. Each week we will explore a different artist in depth, creating works inspired by their medium, subject matter, philosophy, and life. Each 4 day camp will include a combination of two dimensional and three dimensional projects, and will be divided into a 6-10 year old age group and an 11-14 year old group. As always, we will learn a lot, play, explore, and expand our understanding of art and the world around us!

Clay Art Academy

This special, clay-only Art Academy is for 8-10 year old students who want an immersive clay experience. Throughout the six-week session, Clay Art Academy students will learn and practice foundational skills in handbuilding and glazing. Just as they do in "regular" Art Academy, students will develop strong visual literacy and critical thinking skills through looking at and discussing their own artwork and the artwork of others. At least three projects will be finished each six-week session.

Page 1 of 12