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Shannon Cousino
Duluth Art Institute’s Art Camp Sampler offers a day of making art for ages 7 to 12 during school break.
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The North House Folk School offers a course on traditional longbow- and arrow-making.
Looking for a family learning experience around the holidays? How about creating your own gifts?
Handmade Holidays is Duluth Art Institute’s annual free family art day at DAI’s Lincoln Center site December 1, 2012.
Even the littlest gift-givers can get in on the fun with handmade gifts, cards and customized wrapping paper. Painting, printmaking and ceramics are options.
Handmade Holidays got its start to help kids and families create gifts in a time of economic uncertainty, and “it’s been one of our most popular events of the year,” says Shannon Cousino, DAI’s education director.
Another offering from the institute is the Art Camp Sampler for ages 7 to 12, a day of making art, December 27, during school break.
Or maybe you’re thinking of taking a class with mom or dad to learn a skill together. (Radical idea, maybe, enjoying time together, but it’s possible in our region.)
At North House Folk School in Grand Marais, classes are designed for people 18 and older, but some are open to younger students when they sign up with an adult.
One is Wreath Weaving: The Traditional Balsam Bough Wreath taught at the Round River Farm in Finland, Saturday, December 1. Students can be as young as 13 with an adult.
Another is Bows and Arrows: Crafting a Traditional Longbow and Arrowmaking, a three-day course that North House offers in Grand Marais December 28-30.
Although it sounds complicated, “it’s not super hard once you get your hands on the tools,” says instructor Rick Yonker. Students learn the step-by-step process of making a wooden longbow, wooden-shafted arrows and even the bow string.
They start with a rough-cut stave of hickory and learn to use traditional hand tools, such as a cabinet scraper. “We use it to accurately take off fine little shavings of wood,” Rick says.
The course is for students 12 and up and has attracted a mix of ages. Younger students generally range from 12 to 16, and Rick has had father-son combinations sign up, but also mother-son and mother-daughter combinations. He’s taught students as young as 10 and as old as 70.
“I’m really flexible. I’m a high school teacher by day (in Farmington, Minnesota). I love teaching. I love kids,” Rick says.
It’s not uncommon to see family members take classes together, says Greg Wright, North House Folk School’s executive director. At times it’s the son or daughter, not the parent, who proposes taking a course together.
Duluth Art Institute
2229 W. Second St., 218-723-1310, www.duluthartinstitute.org
Handmade Holidays
11 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1
Art Camp Sampler
9 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 27
North House Folk School
500 W. Hwy. 61, Grand Marais.
888-387-9762, www.northhouse.org.
A variety of seasonal classes; fees vary.