The Art Center aims to connect community with artist

This fall sees the opening of the The Art Center in Ramona, where everything from traditional to expressive art will be explored.

The center’s mission is to create an inclusive community art space, where the community and the artist are put into direct contact, states the announcement of the center’s opening.

“We are interested in creating a rural community art space, where traditional, expressive and conceptual artists come in contact with each other and the larger community,” said Helen Wilson, the center’s director. “We envision a place where the art is paramount and the atmosphere is intelligent, educational and welcoming, a professional place where local artists, visiting artists, emerging artists and established artists mingle. Our goal is the building of an artistic community through socialization thereby removing the often-isolating effect of working as an artist in a rural area.”

Imagine a large space for artists to work and where classes are taught and exhibitions and art talks are held, continued Wilson.

They are starting small with one room at 1140 Main St., Suite 208, said Wilson, outlining a fall schedule that includes classes with some of Ramona’s top artist/instructors in a variety of media.

Three classes are under way, with other classes and workshops beginning in October and continuing into January.

Tuesday Nights

began about four years ago. Its fall version started Aug. 26 and promises to be fun. This four-class session explores the idea of “the Gift and the Box it came in” and examines the traditions of giving and receiving. It concludes with an exhibition.

Wilson, an internationally exhibited artist with a Masters of Fine Arts from The San Francisco Art Institute and a bachelor’s in English from USIU, is Tuesday Nights’ creator and facilitator. She also teaches at Palomar College.

The second class to start is Tracy Potter’s

Fiber Arts,

which started Monday, Labor Day, is an exploration of media/techniques on fabric. Using a 12-by-12 format, participants will explore surface design and mixed media techniques on fabric.

Potter’s bi-monthly sessions will develop themes and challenges through creative play in a supportive environment. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in art education and elementary education from Western Michigan University. She also has a master’s degree in reading education from San Diego State University and she taught at the elementary level for 17 years. A working fiber artist, her art can be seen at www.tracypotterfiberart.com.

Her classes are the first and third Mondays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Lark Burkhart is teaching

Book Arts—Basics and Beyond

1. Burkhart has been making artist’s books for a dozen years. Her work has been shown in juried exhibitions in California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii and is part of several publications, including “1000 Artists Books” and “500 Handmade Books, volume 2.”

She has studied with artists at San Francisco Center for the Book, the Athenaeum, Foothill College, Focus on Book Arts, Idyllwild Summer Arts Program and Palomar College. Her books are held in private and university library collections.

Those in her class will play with skill-building exercises and collaborations in class and work toward the completion of a fully realized artist’s book. Her four once-monthly classes started on Sept. 2 and are limited to six. Her work can be seen at www.jumpingcrowstudio.com.

Artist Susan Bainbridge begins her

Art Start

for ages 7 to 14 classes in October. For about 20 years, Art Start has been inspiring children in Poway and San Diego and will now be offered at The Art Center. Students are invited to learn to draw and express themselves through art.

Bainbridge will use directed drawing techniques to encourage students to develop their drawing skills, confidence and imagination. A variety of media will be explored: pencil, watercolor, markers and pastels, as well as one clay project (because kids love it!). All materials will be supplied.

Class sizes will be between 5 and 12 and are offered at two times, 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. and 4 to 5:15 Mondays from Oct. 6 through Nov. 17. Art Starts past programs are at www.artstart1.com and www.artstart1.blogspot.com.

Bainbridge, a working artist and graduate of Saint Andrew’s University in North Carolina, will also teach

Art Camp for Grown-Ups

and

Mixed Media Exploration with the Gelli Plate.

For years, parents of Art Start campers have requested a camp for adults. The camp will be held Sundays, Oct. 5 through Nov. 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Mixed Media Exploration with the Gelli Plate uses monoprints created on a Gelli arts plate. Collage and paint will also be used. The four four-hour sessions will be from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sundays Nov. 9, 16 and 30 and Dec. 7.

Bainbridge’s art can be seen at www.SusanBainbridge.com

Pamela Underwood, a professional visual artist for 30 years, will teach

Linoleum Block Carving and Printing

1. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting & Printmaking from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has been a group and retreat facilitator since 1994, and an expressive arts therapist since 2003. She spent three years at the Expressive Arts Institute of San Diego and three summers at the European Graduate School in Switzerland, earning her master’s in Expressive Arts Therapy with a minor in psychology. Her printmaking class does not rely on a printing press, costly supplies or chemicals. The six-hour workshop will be Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All supplies will be provided. Her work can be seen at www.pamelaunderwood.com.

Artist Pat Kelly will offer

Painting Critique/Finding Your Personal Painting Style,

a four-session workshop to help artists find direction and to prepare tme, to enter group and juried shows. The four three-hour sessions are on Saturdays, Dec. 6 and 20 and Jan. 3 and 17 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Born in La Jolla, Kelly attended UCSD where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art. Pat and her husband live near the farm that his family homesteaded in 1908.

Kelly teaches plein air and still life painting at the Athenaeum Art and Music Library in La Jolla, and conducts workshops at her studio in Ramona. Her work can be seen at patkellystudio.com/about

Those interested in any of these classes may contact the artists through the center’s or the artist’s website. For more information, go to www.theartcenterramona.com or contact the director at studio@helenwilsonartist.com.