What’s your style? This artful Johnson County spot is sure to have a class that fits

The weather’s already given many a good reason to stay inside. But for those getting bored of chilling at home, the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center has a few ideas. Its series of art classes is a draw for many in the community.

Whether you’re in need of creative freedom with just a little assistance or you’d prefer a more detailed road map for a project, you’re in luck. Some classes, like a recent one featuring ceramic gingerbread-style houses, focus on one specific item over two or three meetings.

“Not everybody’s creative path is the same. A lot of people have never done something with ceramics or any particular art, so it’s nice for them to have something that’s a little bit more laid out for them,” said Ryan Bell, fine arts coordinator at the center.

Upcoming classes in this vein include fabric collage, arm knitting and mending.

“We try to look at the full calendar year and offer as many different things as we can, touching on many different art styles throughout the year,” Bell said.

Other classes center more on a discipline of art, such as painting, and stretch over eight weeks, allowing more time to work.

“They’re also more open-ended, so you’ll learn all the techniques, but you’re just making whatever you want,” Bell said.

Class disciplines include ceramics, painting and fiber arts. And while some classes are for children, quite a few are only for adults. You don’t need to have any expertise to try one, either.

“I just love crafting. I took pottery classes in high school, but I haven’t had time to do it since. It’s a good re-entry,” said Prairie Village resident Madilyn Mills, who took the gingerbread ceramics class.

People also love the ceramic fairy house class offered in March. Additional popular short classes include embroidery, drawing fundamentals and bookbinding.

“It’s a nice quick way to learn a new skill that you might not have had before,” Bell said. “I think it gets a lot of people that wouldn’t necessarily view themselves as artists, because it’s something you can see as being very practical: ‘I’m creating this object that I’m going to use for this specific purpose.’

“It bridges that gap between people that already self-identify as artists and people that are interested in doing something creative but don’t know where to start.”

Amanda Clark, who taught the recent ceramic gingerbread house class, sees distinct artistic styles in her classes.

“Usually when I teach these classes, half want the template to do exactly as I do, and half want to go rogue,” she said.

Classes tend to cost the same per session, so shorter classes are less expensive. The longer classes can be in four-, six- or eight-week versions, but to join you have to pay for the whole run. A two-week class might run $60 to $80, including materials.

An adult class would normally be about 2 1/2 hours per session.

The center has a variety of teaching artists who run the classes. Some are professional artists, while others are full-time educators.

Bell carefully studies the popularity of classes.

“We started with bookbinding two years ago, and it was really popular, so we’ve kept it going. We had an origami class that wasn’t as popular, so we’ve only repeated it a couple of times,” Bell said. “We’re always open to anybody’s suggestions on what they might want for a class.”

All classes through April are currently open for sign-ups until they’re full. To sign up for classes or to get more information, go to jcprd.com/351/Fine-Arts

This story was originally published December 6, 2023 at 5:00 AM.