The Collaborative, a Warren-based arts nonprofit, will hold free art classes for youth the week of April 18-22, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the organization's two spaces: 498 Main St. and 4 Market St.

The Warren Art Academy, now in its fifth year, is a series of art classes for youth where students are immersed in learning the basics of four different art forms taught by Arts Education professionals. This year’s Academy will feature classes in Printmaking, Filmmaking, Photography and Comic Design. 


“The Art Academy really follows our philosophy of using the arts to educate,” said Executive Director Uriah Donnelly. “Since its inception, The Collaborative has always envisioned being less a gallery and more of a community organization bringing together art and education for people of all ages. Since The Collaborative started, we have had many young artists exhibit in our gallery. We’ve had the pleasure of watching them grow and evolve into budding professionals. That is something that is really important to us.”


This program is made possible by grants from The White Family Foundation, Andrade-Faxon Charities, RISCA, and a Legislative grant from Sen. Walter Felag. The classes are free but there is a small, fully refundable deposit in order to reserve a space. The deposit will be refunded once the student completes the full week of classes.

“We certainly don’t want the deposit to be a barrier to anyone, but it creates more incentive to follow through,” opined Donnelly. “We’ve had scenarios in the past, before we started taking deposits, where folks would sign up but not show up taking a spot away from other kids. If the $50 deposit is the only thing stopping you from signing up, please reach out to us. We’d never want that to get in the way of participating in this fun program.”

Click here for more information and to register for this program.