By Kannikar Petersen
Columbia County Cultural Coalition Board Member
January 2012

‘Free Art and Craft Workshops’ have taken off with a strong start.

The Art Quilting Workshop, the first workshop in a series of ‘Free Art and Craft Workshops,’ had a great turn out. 16 children and their parents spent Saturday morning on January 14 learning about the history and art of making quilts from six local artists from the Columbia River Piecemakers Quilt Guild.

The artists started off the workshop with an overview of the history and styles of quilts. They brought more than two dozen precious quilts, old and new, for everyone to see and touch. Three work stations were setup for different types of projects for the children to start their first steps into the world of creating quilts.

At the end of the two and a half hour class, the children took home a handful of projects they had completed. The artists handed out quilting materials to encourage them to continue creating more at home. The next workshop, ‘Leather Carving’ will be on Saturday February 11. Artist Loretta Sampson from the Columbia Art Guild will teach the craft of leather tooling and dyeing as well as show samples of exquisite saddle work.

Although the St. Helens Arts and Cultural Commission is organizing the Free Art and Craft Workshops, they are made possible by a grant from Columbia County Cultural Coalition. The St. Helens Library handled registration and other assistance and the local artists donated their time and art supplies.

The Free Art and Craft Workshop Program’s goal is to provide access to our collective cultural heritage through the arts. The program focuses on the crafts that have been part of our history but are slowly disappearing through the changes of our culture and the way we live.

Columbia County Cultural Coalition is one of 42 county and tribal cultural coalitions that receive Cultural Trust Participation grants every year.  See more about the Columbia County Cultural Coalition funded “Free Art and Craft Workshop”, click here.