Little Art School is picture perfect for at-home youngsters
AN art studio in Clarkston has been helping the community during lockdown, with free art packs and classes for kids. Little Art School, co-founded nearly seven years ago by Joanne Robinson and Melissa Haddow, launched a scheme during lockdown to help the kids that would normally use the service still have access to art classes.
Joanne said: “When lockdown happened, we looked at how we could adapt our service.
“It was such an anxious time, for kids especially, and art really improves their self esteem and makes them feel good about themselves.”
The school, which normally charges for classes and services, decided to give lessons for free online, with Joanne even roping in her 18-year-old daughter to help out.
She said: “We have been doing two lessons a day on YouTube to substitute the normal classes.
“The summer holidays are a long time for kids to fill, more so now that they couldn’t get out and play like normal.
“They were a great success and I even got my daughter involved.”
The classes have also been used to help those in care homes, with the charity, Little Art School Trust, which is is separate from the business, conducting free virtual lessons.
Joanne said:
“The point of the charity esteem.
“We have lesson tailored to those with dementia and the reaction from that is unbelievable.
“We have people who aren’t able to hold a knife and fork being able to paint.
“Art is a non-pharmaceutical approach to dealing with it, and the paintings and drawings that they do create are hung in the communal areas. We get sent pictures of all the work that people do.”
After the success of the lockdown activity list, the Little Art School is to use art to build self is now looking forward to branching out, with more location on the horizon.
Joanne said: “The reaction to our online classes have been amazing.
“I get stopped in the street by people who have been doing the classes.
“When we looked at the analytics for our YouTube videos, the most traffic was from all around Glasgow.
“Before lockdown, we were looking at the north and west of the city – this has just cemented the idea.”