CANAAN — On the second floor of the Mascoma Area Senior Center in downtown Canaan, Anita Garland stood facing a bank of 17 drawings and pointed out her depiction of the town green.
“We could pick anything we wanted downtown to draw,” Garland, an Orange resident and frequent senior center guest, said at an event celebrating the exhibit. “I forgot my chair that day and sat on the steps of the gazebo and sketched the view.”
Garland was one of 15 students in Exploring Drawing, an eight-week art class taught by artist and Canaan resident Michael Kraatz. The course was part of a larger Grafton County Senior Citizens Council program called Experience Arts, which aims to bring free arts programs taught by skilled practitioners to those 55 and older in the region.
“I always like art and it was a good chance to have some fun and learn something new,” said Garland, 81. “Each time, it was different.”
The program was initially funded by a two-year grant from Aroha Philanthropies and is now funded by a combination of donations from other nonprofit organizations and members of the community.
Exploring Drawing was the first class held at Mascoma Area Senior Center.
“Not only does the funding allow us to continue the program, it allows us to expand to centers that haven’t hosted Experience Art classes before,” said Kathleen Vasconcelos, executive director of the Grafton County Senior Citizens Council. “We find that the classes have so many benefits and one is that it attracts new people to the senior center.”
Past programs have included lessons in ukulele, poetry and dance. There is no cost to participants.
One such person is Janice Ellis, of Canaan, who was recently retired when she signed up for Exploring Drawing.
“Now it’s ‘me time’: What do I do? Where do I start? And this is where I started,” said Ellis, 67. Her favorite part of the class was “all of it.”
Two of her drawings, one of the American Legion building and one of the Canaan Town Library, were on display in the exhibit.
“The legion had a lot of brickwork I wanted to work with,” Ellis said. “The library has a lot of stuff that’s in front of it that’s interesting.”
As part of the class, Kraatz passed out sketchbooks, encouraging his students to draw every day.
“Mine is almost full,” Ellis said. “This was pleasantly surprising for me to find out what I was signing up for. It was great.”
Kraatz, the instructor who is a professional glassblower, said it was the first class he taught where his students were all seniors.
“It felt at home,” he said, noting that he is considered a senior citizen himself. “I hope the students get as much from the class as I get from seeing their faces light up.”
The class was so popular, a waitlist had to be started, said Sharon Dunbar, director of the Mascoma Area Senior Center.
“We’re hopeful we’ll be able to do this again,” Dunbar said.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
