Dunedin Fine Arts Cultural Center Inc

Programs: Adult education:the adult education program at the dunedin fine art center (dfac) is designed to open the doors to exciting and creative opportunities. Dfac has assembled an award winning, degreed group of instructors who encourage students to reach their full potential with individual attention and an inclusive attitude. While many art centers offer painting, drawing and clay classes, dfac expands those offerings with classes and workshops in business of art, fiber arts, jewelry design, wood turning, stone carving, glass blowing, creative writing, photography and digital arts, printing, welding, bladesmithing and food arts. Classes are taught year-round with 7 six week terms and individual workshops scheduled in 22 studios, including 4 new studios with dedicated jewelry, fiber arts and printing capabilities. Nationally renowned artists are brought in to lead workshops throughout the year, often aligning with the exhibitions in the galleries. During the 2016-17 fiscal year, there were 3,079 adult class registrations which is a 5% increase in enrollment over the past fiscal year. Visitors to the center can talk to instructors and watch demonstrations during the annual demo day. Monthly coffee and conversation programs feature instructors and area artists talking about their work, careers and offering demonstrations of their techniques. These programs regularly attract standing room only attendance. Creative aging programs: dfac is dedicated to fostering the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging. Many of our senior students express their appreciation for the mental and creative stimulation provided by art activities and depend on the sense of community created in the classes. Just imagine program for mentally and physically challenged adults: this weekly program for adults ages 18-51 who are profoundly mentally and physically challenged. There is no charge for this program which requires a qualified art instructor and three assistants. Feeling arts program: this one-on-one class is offered to children and adults who struggle with add/adhd, odd, autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities. The 50 minute sessions employ therapeutic art techniques tailored to the clients and their needs. These sessions are taught by an artist with a bfa from ringling college of art and design, a ba in psychology and a masters in clinical research and social work.

youth education: besides educational outreach programs for local charter/private schools and organizations like the ymca, the children and teen program follows the same schedule as the adult program, except may to august. During summer, a ten-week intensive summer enrichment art academy program for children ages: 4. 5 to 14 is held. This summer program offers 7 different weekly camps focused on photography (both black & white and digital), clay (hand building and wheel), 2d (drawing and painting), ipad explorations, murals and musical theater are offered to age appropriate groupings in week long sessions. Dfac has up to 200 children per week and employs certified art teachers from both pinellas and hillsborough county along with professional, degreed working artists from the tampa bay area. At the close of summer, a summer art academy exhibit is held in our kokolakis family youth gallery curated by the children, for the children. 50 different schools are represented in our summer camp exhibit. Dedicated youth gallery: dfac has a dedicated gallery (kokolakis family youth gallery) used exclusively for children's art work from 4. 5 yrs. To 17 yrs. Dfac partners with the pinellas county school district's visual arts supervisor to provide 4 exhibits yearly featuring 75 elementary, 19 middle and 13 high schools. Dfac also partners with the city of dunedin and the dunedin principals' consortium to provide the dunedin schools' showcase exhibit featuring the youth's artwork created in dunedin. Both partnerships allow the display of area's youth artwork in a formal gallery setting, framed and matted by dfac. These are wonderful events to attend for the excitement and pride radiating from the children and their families. Dedicated youth clay lab: dfac has 12 wheels/and a hand building studio which can be used exclusively by children, while 12 additional wheels are used by the adults in the adjoining clay labs. David l. Mason children's hands on art museum (dlm museum): a big part of our youth education program is the children's hands-on art museum. It gives children the opportunity to explore all the different media used in art from clay to electronic graphics and green screen. The dlm museum is designed by dfac's youth education director and every year it has a new theme. The 19th annual children's hands-on exhibit, positively pagemaker's: the art in storytelling, features a new, interactive hands-on experience where preschoolers up to 12 years old explore how integral art is in the reading and storytelling process. You can find a giant pyramid with hieroglyphics, a ghost story station as well as other writing/illustrating stations. Interactive floor computers, green screen theater, giant touch screen drawing programs, black light kinetic sand castle station plus 7 ipad air stations with artsy apps related to reading. Free family fun nights invite the public in for some artsy fun in our hands-on museum the second friday of the month as well as family concerts, instrument petting zoo and art activities partnered with the florida orchestra. School tours: dfac's two-hour tour consists of three components:1) students start with a thirty to forty-five-minute engaging gallery discussion involving science, history, social influence and impact, principles and elements of design, creative problem solving and humor. 2) students proceed to the hands-on interactive area where they explore, create and build on concepts and images from the original artworks seen in the galleries. Time in the hands-on area is 30-45 minutes. 3) tour concludes with students gathering in the art studio for a teacher directed, exhibit related activity involving imagination and motor skills. New outreach program only at dfac: dunedin fine art center's wheels on wheels: a mobile pottery experience, is an exciting, creative, one of a kind, innovative two-hour hands on experience with hand-building clay and more importantly, using clay on a potter's wheel, "throwing on the wheel" as it is known. A converted school bus travels to the schools or any institution that has parking for a bus so that students get the opportunity to experience the fun and magic that is clay! Ten students will be able to practice their "throwing" skills for 45 minutes with 1lb of mexo-white self-hardening clay on real, electric potter's wheels housed in dfac's converted school bus. Outside the bus there will be four tables for an additional 10 students using mexo-red self-hardening clay to practice their hand-building skills using coil, pinch and slab methods. After the first 45 minutes, students will rotate so that a total of 24 youth in an hour and a half to two-hour block get to experience all phases of working with the exciting medium of clay. We have an additional 12th potter's wheel that can be set up so it is accessible depending on needs. 1) youth participating in the program benefit by being a part of a creative process that is not normally available to them in the schools. Due to expense, size and number, most schools lack the capability to provide the space or equipment for a dedicated clay lab. Dfac's mobile clay wheel lab makes the wonderful process of throwing on the wheel accessible to everyone. 2) clay is for all ages, but working on the wheel is more suited for 8 year olds on up to 108. Currently the wheels on wheels program has served close to 2,000 participants since its inception in 2016. 3) this unique, creative and innovative opportunity started as a fun idea from todd still, youth education director and came to fruition through the support of dfac, pougialis-anastasakis foundation for the arts, pinellas community foundation and parliament motor coach.

exhibits: dfac offers museum-quality exhibitions which are organized by our curatorial director. Exhibits change every 8 weeks, on average. In a given year, the public can enjoy 20 different exhibits in 7 distinct galleries plus 10 exhibits in our dedicated children's gallery. Our curatorial director establishes the exhibition calendar two years in advance selecting from a range of individual artist proposals, traveling exhibits, guest curator concepts plus other organizational and regional proposals. With educational values at the core of the dunedin fine art center's mission, it has been our goal, that at any given time, a visitor may view works by our faculty and students alongside exhibits of artists of national and international standing. In addition to numerous themed juried exhibitions for community participation, we have a student / member / faculty exhibit that ensures every work of art submitted is shown and celebrated! It is ideal that we have been able to simultaneously stage shows of broader significance in the contemporary art world while maintaining a commitment to our students, members and their families. That commitment along with the talents of our curatorial staff led dfac to be named 'best museum', in pinellas county in 2014 in a visit st. Petersburg/clearwater poll despite the fact we are not one-perception is everything! For two years running, creative loafing tampa's best of the bay awards named dfac best non-museum gallery in tampa bay for 2016 + 2017. Exhibits are a primary component of dfac's educational and cultural outreach to our community, greater tampa bay and visitors to our state, who attend lectures and demonstrations by visiting/exhibiting artists in collaboration with our year-round classes and workshops. Dfac's member/students are enhanced by daily exposure to a diverse range of contemporary art techniques and media. In addition, throughout the school year, school tours for children of all ages enjoy: a gallery talk-led by our youth education director, interactive play in our hands-on museum and a classroom take-home project conducted by our youth education staff.

memberships and donations subsidize all programs provided by dfac and are not included in these program revenues.