Animals, kids and clay

Lunenburg School of the Arts introduces after school program

CONTRIBUTED SPECIAL TO THE SOUTH SHORE BREAKER

LUNENBURG, N.S. — The Lunenburg School of the Arts (LSA) has launched its winter 2020 workshop schedule and will offer a new program for youth ages nine to 12.

The 10-week after school program “Animal Kingdom: Kids and Clay” will start Jan. 15 and be taught by artist-instructor Anna Bald on Wednesday afternoons. The program will focus on creating with clay and decorating ceramic animals.

Participants of “Animal Kingdom: Kids and Clay” will pursue a variety of individual animal-inspired projects, as well as a larger collaborative project designed by the whole class. Students will develop techniques for creating three-dimensional forms in clay and explore different methods of decoration. Not only will the youth play and create, they will also be shown the before and after processes of firing their pieces in a kiln. Students will finish the workshop with long-lasting ceramic art pieces to take home.

This is the first time Bald will instruct at Lunenburg School of the Arts, and she will teach two ceramics workshops this winter, “Animal Kingdom: Kids and Clay” and “Claystation Staycation: Hand-building.” Bald's background is as an interdisciplinary artist in ceramics, design, and painting. In addition to her BA from the University of Victoria (2009), she studied fine arts at NSCAD University in Halifax and University of Victoria.

Bald has exhibited her works on both coasts of Canada. Her first major public art installation, Introduced and Invasive Species (2018), funded by the “Canada 150 Project” and the Municipality of Lunenburg, can be seen on display at the Broad Cove Community Hall. In addition to commission work, Bald is working on a new body of ceramics for a show and sale this summer.

The Lunenburg School of the Arts is known for the high quality of its youth programs and its professional artists and enthusiastic educators. The school's