The City of Dayton Department of Recreation & Youth Services Riverbend Art Center is offering the award winning a.r.i.s.e. (Artistic Resources in Social Empowerment) program to youth ages 4 – 14, FREE!

The a.r.i.s.e. program is an after-school, artist-in-residence program that allows professional artists to work with youth in visual and performing arts. Participants can select up to two classes from among the following: airbrush, dance, drama, drawing/cartooning, jewelry making, lapidary (stone polishing), painting, paper sculpture, photography, pottery and story & song at no cost to the participants. 

The fall 2007 session begins September 17, and ends November 15, 2007. Interested parents/guardians can register their youth until September 12, 2007. Registrations can be taken at the Riverbend Art Center or the Dayton Cultural and RTA Transit Center

The classes for youth four to six years of age will take place at the Dayton Cultural and RTA Transit Center from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  Youth ages seven through 14 are instructed at Riverbend Art Center from 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.  The participants attend either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday, depending on the class selected.

  At the end of the a.r.i.s.e. session, participants present what they have learned to family and friends in a Closing Program on Tuesday, November 20, 2007.  The Closing Program includes a dance and drama performance along with an art exhibit.

There are 13 professional instructors who work with the youth in the program. One instructor, who will teach the Story and Song class, is Winnie Johnson, who is the Children’s Librarian for Dayton Metro Library.  Tricia Calvert, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and has taught art to children at the Dayton Art Institute, will teach a.r.i.s.e’s painting course. By exposing young artists to skilled professionals, the program ensures that youth receive the best training.

The a.r.i.s.e. program site addresses are:

Riverbend Art Center 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton, Ohio 45414 (937) 333-7000                                             

Dayton Cultural & RTA Transit Center

40 S. Edwin C. Moses Blvd

Dayton, Ohio 45408

937-333-2489

For further information contact DeEarnest McLemore at (937) 333-7000