PORT TOWNSEND — The Northwind Art School, formed after the merging of the Port Townsend School of the Arts and the Northwind Art Center, has a new winter course catalog out this weekend.
Thirty-six in-person classes and 16 online programs are listed on the nonprofit school’s website, Northwindart.org. The first class listed is at the end of this month.
In its classroom space in Building 306 at Fort Worden State Park, Northwind continues to follow mandates and requires students and teachers to be vaccinated and wear masks, said education director Meg Kaczyk.
In-person class sizes are limited to eight people, so students are advised to sign up early.
The full course load means the school is at pre-pandemic levels for the first time, Kaczyk said.
Sixteen local and eight visiting teaching artists will lead classes in a variety of media, from ceramics and fiber to assemblage, printmaking and portraiture. “Introduction to Oil Painting” with Tracy Grisman, “Picture Books and Graphic Novels” with Dana Sullivan, “Nature Inspired Paper Embossing” with Rebecca Wild, “Have a Heart Collage” with Anne Schneider and “Play with Paint” with Max Grover are among the offerings for adults.
Children’s classes during spring break in April include “Pattern Layering” with Dana Weir and “Graphic Novels & Comix for Teens” with Sullivan, who is the author of “Dead Max Comix,” a series of graphic novels for middle-school-age youngsters.
Other teachers from Port Townsend School of the Arts days are returning, Kaczyk noted: Jesse Joshua Watson, Darsie Beck, Rick Myers and Katey Rissi are among them, while visiting instructors include Santa Fe-based abstract artist Sandra Duran Wilson.
“It’s been really wonderful to see the activity and creativity return to Building 306,” Kaczyk said.
“The last two years have presented challenges, and we had to move fast and furious to get online quickly when the pandemic hit,” she said. Then as now, “art making is a source of expression and healing for people, and we are committed to providing that outlet.”
In the new catalog are fundamentals classes in painting, drawing and mixed media, while the school will offer creative process courses that combine writing and visuals.
For example, award-winning illustrator and journalist Steve Brodner will give a graphic memoir workshop intensive. Writer Jennifer Andrews and photographers Rick York and Ginny Banks will teach a class called “Envisioned Stories.”
Northwind also will present a few pop-up offerings during the coming season: lectures, workshops and seasonal activities.
Donations from supporters have provided the school with a new air filtration system, projection equipment for seeing art demonstrations clearly from a distance, a fresh coat of paint, and additional tools and supplies, Kaczyk added.
“I’m seeing such gratitude among our community of artists,” she said, “for each other, for being able to be together again, and for the opportunity to learn, grow and make art.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladaily news.com.
