ArtShop has been called the pioneer of art programs for youth in our community, and ran from 1981 to 2015. In 2016, ArtShop took a new direction. While there was not a weeklong camp for children to enroll in with performances at Art on the Green, ArtShop classes were provided for children who do not have access to the many wonderful art opportunities in our community. ArtShop held art classes over the summer at the Children's Village, a home/facility for children who have been abused, neglected, or are in the midst of a severe family crisis. This is a place and a population where we can make a difference.

While we, and many of you, were understandably sad to not have ArtShop continue as it has been, we can be happy for all the years ArtShop was part of the larger community, all the children it inspired, and all the art it supported.

We give a heartfelt thanks the multitude that made ArtShop possible: thanks to all of our ArtShop instructors for their years with ArtShop, sharing their talents with the students, and supporting the program; thanks to the generations of participants and all the parents who signed them up and got them there; we thank our fun and enthusiastic teen assistants; thanks to the volunteer parents who helped with Monday morning sign-ins and chaperoned the bus ride to the festival; we thank our dedicated ArtShop staff who made it all run so smoothly - Sara, Bonnie, Jessica, and Lyn; and special thanks to our director since 1999, Renee Kauffman, who truly made ArtShop a work of art!

"ArtShop created a dynamic and vital experience that introduced art to generations of kids, and continued that program as those kids grew up to teach, volunteer and enroll their own kids in ArtShop, creating a perpetual sort of Möbius strip of artistic endeavor. This program has educated generations of people who support art in this community, an area that has more support for the arts than any other place I have worked or lived. I am so happy to see that ArtShop will continue in a new guise, and helping kids who have such a great need is a wonderful idea; art gives back to those who produce it." ArtShop instructor since the beginning, Liz Mowrey

We have new projects in store for 2018. If you would like more information about the new direction for ArtShop, please contact:

Renee Kauffman (208)762-4217
or Email Artshop