An Afternoon at the Elkford Arts Council’s Art Studio

The day is one of those snowy, rainy, breaks of sunshine afternoons in Fall in Elkford. I have arrived at the Elkford Arts Council early in the day to check on my pottery pieces, put the coffee pot on and wedge some clay to make more pots. I pour myself a cup of coffee and watch as people begin to enter The Art Studio. At the Art Studio someone turns on the tunes, puts their lunch in the fridge. People greet each other as community artists, and everyone begins to settle into a day of creativity. Parents and their children enter. The children rush over to the drying racks to show their parents what they made at the after-school art program. Their voices are animated and their faces express how excited they are to create new pottery or painting pieces. They even offer to help their parents come up with those parents own unique ideas.
​Adults are wedging clay and starting to throw pots. The children walk over to the pottery wheels and watch potters as the cone up their clay.. Often, the kids will say, “Wow, how did you do that?”. They ask questions and often say that when they are older, they want to be artists also. There are painters and potters entering the studio, getting out their easels or wedging up clay to begin throwing their pots. People are greeting one another and the conversation evolves into ideas these artists hope to turn into their own work of art. They relate the latest “oops” they made and laugh about it. There is music, laughter, positive interactions between young and old. The Art Studio feels full of positive energy. All of these interactions, and the positive feelings that fill our Art Studio space makes me smile. The Art Studio is really an amazing place in our community. Please come and visit us, and see for yourself.
With gratitude, Teri Cleverly, President Elkford Arts Council