Young Picassos create masterpieces in Portsmouth

First youth art camp at Common Fence a rousing success

By Jim McGaw
Posted 7/24/17

PORTSMOUTH — The Common Fence Point Improvement Association (CFPIA) wants its community hall to be a local hub for the arts going forward, and it certainly looked like one last week.

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Young Picassos create masterpieces in Portsmouth

First youth art camp at Common Fence a rousing success

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — The Common Fence Point Improvement Association (CFPIA) wants its community hall to be a local hub for the arts going forward, and it certainly looked like one last week.

In conjunction with the Newport County YMCA, the CFPIA hosted its first kids’ art camp, a week-long program attended by 13 children ages 5 to 7.

Julie Shoen-Hood, who worked at the Newport Art Museum for 18 years and ran all of its summer camp, was the lead instructor. This was the first time she led a camp at the CFPIA Hall, however. It was a busy week.

“We made books, portfolios and sculptures out of recycled stuff, and then we did matted watercolors, acrylic on canvas paintings based on stones from the beach,” Ms. Shoen-Hood said. “We did wind stocks based on koi fish. They made crabs using mixed media.”

The children’s works are being displayed for two weeks in the upstairs gallery. Parents can pick up everything by Aug. 1.

Ms. Shoen-Hood also teaches an adult art class at the community hall on Mondays from 1-3 p.m. before teaching children from 3:30 to 5 p.m. 

“It’s like Art Monday. I love it. It’s a good way to live life, that’s for sure,” she said.

Conley Zani, CFPIA’s director of development, said she was delighted by the turnout for the kids’ art camp, which sold out.

“The vision is we’ll be the place for art camps in the summer going forward,” she said.

Ms. Zani said the Rhode Island Foundation just awarded CFPIA a $5,000 grant to purchase portable art display partitions for the upstairs gallery.

“We can basically create more wall space,” she said.

Art center plans

Earlier this year, CFPIA received an $187,000 matching grant from the R.I. State Council for the Arts (RISCA) which the group says will help transform the neighborhood community center into an arts center serving Portsmouth and beyond

Ms. Zani said construction is expected to begin in June 2018 and will take four months. 

The first thing the association will do is replace two stairwells and install an elevator to make the building more accessible. The property will likely need a new septic system as well, she said.

Registration open for Kids’ Club

In other CFPIA-related news, reservations are being accepted for the Afterschool Kids’ Club which starts in September and will be continuing throughout the school year at the community hall.

The Newport County YMCA is partnering with CFPIA to offer the program, and enrollment is free for those with a YMCA family membership ($76 monthly).

The club will be held from 3-6 p.m. on weekdays for children in kindergarten through grade 6. Busing is available from Hathaway School and Portsmouth Middle School. 

The club will be staffed by YMCA. There will be homework help, an afternoon snack, arts and crafts, games and more fun.

For more information, contact Anne Schultz at 401/847-9200, ext. 137 or annes@newportymca.org.

Common Fence Point, Common Fence Point Improvement Association, Common Fence Point Community Hall Newport County YMCA

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.