Wise, VA – The Pro-Art Association is launching a new initiative to provide hands-on artmaking opportunities to the community at large. Pro-Art Studio will expand the nonprofit organization’s impact beyond performances, offering experiential courses, workshops, and community projects beginning in June with painting and photography workshops in Wise County. For more information and to register, please visit proartva.org/studio.

In November of last year, Pro-Art was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help launch Pro-Art Studio. The Smith Vicars Family Foundation quickly met the grant’s match, helping to ensure the long-term sustainability of the project and expanding tuition assistance for those in need.

“Smith Vicars Family Foundation is so pleased to support Pro-Art and their innovative, arts-centric offerings” notes Stuart P. Smith, President of the Smith Vicars Family Foundation. “We understand that access to the arts is imperative to creating vibrant, engaging experiences. To help match the National Endowment for the Arts grant for Pro-Art is to help grow these experiences within Southwest Virginia, and we look forward to seeing the impact for citizens and communities.”

UPCOMING PRO-ART STUDIO WORKSHOPS:

• Led by local artist and UVA Wise professor Jim Veenstra, “Landscapes of Imagination” is an acrylic painting workshop that will be held on Monday, June 1st from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Gilliam Center for the Arts at UVA Wise. In this short studio session, participants will learn and put into practice conventions of successful landscapes, creating a unique and perhaps fantastical painting from imagination. The workshop fee is $25 per person and includes all materials and supplies.
• Learn digital photography fundamentals with Professor David Frazier in a “Cell Phone Photography” workshop on Wednesday, June 10th from 7 to 10 p.m. at High Knob Destination Center in Norton. Bring your phone or digital camera and wear comfortable shoes as participants will explore a portion of the trail to look for natural beauty to capture! The workshop fee is $25 per person.

Additional workshops and courses will be announced soon! To learn more about Pro-Art Studio and to register for a workshop, please visit proartva.org/studio.

Pro-Art partners with a variety of venues, for accessibility inquiries or general questions, call (276) 376-4520 or email contact@proartva.org. For weather related updates, patrons are encouraged to check proartva.org for real-time information.

Pro-Art Studio is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Smith Vicars Family Foundation.

Pro-Art is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly, as well as the C. Bascom Slemp Foundation, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise and Mountain Empire Community College.

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