By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — The Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center’s full spectrum of spring term classes are a great way to get out of the house and try something new, organizers say.

“Creativity makes a difference in people’s lives. It can be as extreme as reinventing yourself or finding a passion to just taking a break from the mundane, day-to-day life or playing with color and working with your hands to create something that’s unique to yourself,” said Diane Taylor, marketing and communications director for the BBAC.

Class registration for the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center’s spring term — which includes more than 100 classes for adults and nearly 40 for youth — began March 8 for BBAC members and will be open to the public March 15.

“We have a lot of workshops that range from a couple of hours over one day to maybe a two- or three-day workshop for people who don’t want to make a 10-week commitment but would still like to do something,” said Taylor.

The adult and youth art classes include a wide variety of mediums such as drawing, painting, jewelry and metals, mixed media, glass, fiber, ceramics, weaving, printmaking, photography, and sculpture. The BBAC also features screenwriting and songwriting classes, which BBAC Vice President of Programming Cindi Mills said community members sometimes don’t realize are offered at the art center.

Adults who want to try out a few different mediums can register for the BBAC’s welcome classes.

“Some people are really timid to come here and take a class, so we have an introductory program which includes learning about drawing, color, ceramics, or jewelry and metalsmithing. They are great for all levels, so if people want to come in with no experience and go into a class, they can really check things out,” Mills said.

New this term is the nine-session industrial design class with instructor Ramon Gomez for high school students in grades nine and up, as well as adults. The course reviews industrial design fundamentals of drawing by covering perspective, basic object rendering, and figure drawing to develop the required line quality for sketches. Marker rendering techniques and demonstration will also be provided.

Mills said the encaustic painting classes, which involve painting with hot liquid wax on a surface and fusing successive top layers to those below it, are very popular each term.

Parents who are wondering what to do with their kids over spring break April 5-9 can send them to the BBAC Spring Break Art Camp for kids in kindergarten through fifth-grade.

“This year we are going to take a trip around the globe. Every day, the art campers are going to ‘travel’ to a different part of the world and explore that art and culture. They will be working with professional artists, as always, and it will cover drawing, painting, mixed media and sculpture. It’s geared toward the different age groups, so everyone is not necessarily doing the same thing,” Taylor said.

Fashion-minded teenagers ages 14-17 can sign up for the Fashion Dress Camp during spring break to learn how to craft their own dress using their measurements, fit their pattern, make good fabric selection choices, press their fabric, trace their pattern and sew their dress design. The final class will end with a runway show.

The BBAC also offers family friendly Studio 1 drop-in workshops 1-4 p.m. every Sunday for $5 per person.

“Our classes fulfill the need of creativity within just about everybody in some way, shape or form,” Mills said.

For more information or to register, visit www.bbartcenter.org or call (248) 644-0866.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1060.