After a restart last year, ArtStart in Rhinelander is announcing an expanded School of the Arts will return this fall.
The school had been the effort of each summer in Rhinelander of UW-Madison for more than 50 years, but was canceled by the Continuing Studies program in November of 2016. After a year of no School of the Arts, ArtStart revived the program under a different format last year and will offer a four-day program this September.
Development Director Melinda Childs says last year they tried two mini-retreats to test the waters, but have expanded it for this year...
"...sort of a pilot program to bring SOA back on a local level. This year, we're expanding on that. We had a successful year last year and we got a lot of feedback from the participants and instructors. We made a whole lot of tweaks and changes and expanded it to be a four day program, Thursday through Sunday, and different arts mediums will be represented...."
The dates are September 27-30 at Treehaven near Tomahawk. Writing, arts, dance and artist's professional development classes are some of the offerings. She says they will have a much easier website to navigate, and easier registration. She says there will be about four times the offerings than a year ago. Registration will open mid-summer.
Childs says ArtStart, in collaboration with the Rhinelander District Library, plans to host a variety of free public events in Rhinelander to compliment the classes.
One other feature will be the pairing, once again, of School of the Arts with the opening reception September 29 of the Northern National Art Competion held each year at Nicolet College. More information is on the ArtStart webpage
