Art camper Poppy Eaton with a portrait.
At the most recent class in the gallery’ s studio room, Mathis and volunteer assistants Ruby Wagers and granddaughter Sophie Mathis guided youngsters through acetate portraits, marked by layered, piecemeal sheets to make a whole image. If the exercise looked a lot like pop art, then heavens to Andy Warhol— that’ s much of the idea.
Only Mathis encourages the kids to birth their own creativity before ever showing them examples from polished pros.“ If I do that beforehand,” Mathis said,“ they shut down.” In other words, they grow intimidated by seeing others’ prowess first. But they seem to blossom under the encouragement of Mathis. Kimoy Bennett, the gallery’ s education director, has seen such firsthand.
“ The kids just love Amanda,” Bennett said.“ She’ s clearly a very fun instructor. She’ s not strict with them. She simply wants them to be free to express all their creativity. And even before we got grants to support this work, she was willing to volunteer to do it just to give back to the community. photo by Brian Blair
Today, that support comes from the Brown County Community Foundation, Indiana Heritage Arts, and the Indiana Arts Commission.
“ But without the gallery’ s enthusiasm, this never would have happened,” Mathis said.
Bennett mentioned that Mathis has made the classes, which almost always have a waiting list, popular from the beginning.
“ You know that it takes a very special person with just the right approach and just the right temperament to teach nearly all ages,” Bennett said.
Five hours into the latest class, 7-year-old Axel Fowler said he liked the gathering.
“ I’ m already a very good artist,” Fowler said nonchalantly.
Mathis loves to see youngsters blossom while learning a range of mediums and styles. The impact stretches far beyond these brushes with art.
“ With so many of these kids, I’ ve seen the confidence from art carry over [ into other areas ],” she said.
Although these classes and her earlier after-school instruction have included some who now pursue art as their chosen vocation, Mathis aims for enrollees to first understand the grand joy of creating amid acrylics, watercolors, pastels, and more.
Mathis’ s parents enrolled her in private lessons early in her native Lafayette. Their own extensive art collection also served as motivation for an artist whose work now hangs in private collections in the United
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