Weir Farm Is Offering Summer Classes For Young Artists

To Explore Art And Nature At National Historic Site

WILTON — Summer art classes for children at Weir Farm National Historic Site are filling up fast.

Art Explorer programs encourage young artists ages 6-12 to explore their own creativity and the environment through the discovery of the Weir Farm landscape with outstanding instruction. Each class meets for one week in two-hour sessions.

The fee for each week-long class is $85. Classes are offered in age specific groups and are held rain or shine. Registration is by mail or in person; registration will not be accepted by phone.

Forms are available at the Weir Farm Visitor Center at 735 Nod Hill Road, on the web at www.nps.gov/wefa (click on For Kids), or by calling 203-761-9945 (forms will be sent to those who request them, but registration information will not be accepted over the phone).

Marc Chabot will be returning for his eighth year to teach “Drawing and Painting the Landscape.” Combining the history of Weir Farm and exploration of the landscape, with instruction in drawing and painting, these week-long classes focus on first-hand observation, memory, and imagination using a different art media each day.

Mr Chabot will also be teaching “Creative Printmaking.” Students will experiment with a variety of techniques including monotype and relief printing to produce multiple copies of a single design using printmaking inks and Japanese paper.

This year’s program also includes a variety of new classes and instructors. Young artists can participate in a clay workshop, a paper making class, try a portraiture class, or one of two new sculpture classes. Weir Farm’s instructors will use the landscape and site history to inspire all young artists as they become engaged in learning new methods and techniques to express their creativity.

Weir Farm National Historic Site preserves the home and workplace of the American painter J. Alden Weir (1852-1919), a leading figure in the development of American Impressionism.

The house, studios, farm buildings and landscape which were central to Weir’s artistic vision survive largely intact, making it the finest remaining landscape of American Impressionism.

Weir Farm Trust, a non-profit organization, works in partnership with the National Park Service to provide programs for children and adults.