Happy Hours means different things to different folks.
For Many, Sabine Parish, and surrounding area residents , it can mean taking interactive classes at the Many Depot Art Guild for a few hours on Saturday afternoons.
Class participants can take photography, painting, arts and crafts, and jewelry design/making classes which are offered on four Saturday afternoons each month from 1-4 p.m.
The Many Cultural District Advisory Committee, Many Mayor Ken Freeman, and the Many Town Council agreed that folks in the area needed more activities and events so they would not have to travel but could stay at home for special events, musical concerts, free movies, art shows, and now…Happy Hours classes.
The Cultural District committee and the Depot Art Guild have worked together to create a schedule of hands-on creative classes taught by talented, often professional instructors.
The schedule looks like this for the months of March through June.
1st weekend in the month photography classes
2nd weekend in the month painting classes
3rd weekend in the month arts and craft classes
4th weekend in the month jewelry design/jewelry making classes
Students pay a minimal fee of $20 or $25 per class directly to the instructor. This amount pays for supplies and materials, as well as the teacher’s expertise and knowledge. Paint, canvasses, beads, special supplies are the kinds of items the enrollment fee covers. At the end of the three hour class, students may take home their creations. Painting and arts and crafts classes are $20 each. Jewelry design/jewelry making and the photography classes are $25 each.
The four photography classes will meet on the first Saturday of March, April, May, and June. Because the classes build on each other, if a student signs up and pays for all four classes on March 3, the cost is only $80 for all of the classes. For single classes, the fee is $25.
Kimberley Remedies, a talented. professional artist, will teach the art class. It is her second year to teach the Happy Hours art class on the second Saturday of each month. She has also taught painting at Hodges Gardens, at the Sabine Council on Aging and various other organizations in the area.
Shanna Dees Gaspard, president of the Depot Art Guild and a member of the Cultural District Advisory Committee, teaches the arts and craft class on the third Saturday of each month. She is a talented artist and crafts person and enjoys seeing her students use their creative skills to create unique artisan projects for their homes or gifts. She says many grandmothers like to bring their grandchildren to take her classes. Gaspard has a granddaughter of her own and often takes Victoria’s advice when she is searching for a creative project for her crafts classes. “I want to be sure I select a project that grownups and children will all enjoy making,” Gaspard said.
Cheryl Pearsall, a talented jewelry designer who retired to this area from Florida, is teaching jewelry making and design on the fourth Saturday afternoon of each month. This is her first year to teach at the Depot Museum Art Gallery. Pearsall has sold her creations at the Depot Art Gallery and they are fast sellers. Now Pearsall is sharing her talent with her Saturday afternoon students. Her class is a popular one, so students need to sign up quickly.
The newest creative instructor is Teresa Hunter from Leesville. A professional photographer, she is teaching photography lessons on the first Saturday afternoon of each month. Her work can be seen on her Facebook page under the name Teresa Hunter Photography. Hunter is excited about teaching the photography course and plans to teach an in-depth photography class that highlights the mechanics of using a camera as well as landscape, animals, and portrait photography. Passionate about photography, Hunter says “I really like sharing my skills with people who want to learn how to be a good photographer and take pictures that will make good memories for their family and friends.”
Schedules for the Happy Hours Creative Arts classes are available at Many City Hall, the Many Community Center (old Sabine Theatre), the Depot Art Guild, and the Sabine Parish Library. Schedules are also posted on the Town of Many Facebook page, Save the Date Facebook page,and Mary Brocato’s Facebook page, and shared throughout social media.
The schedules cover the classes for the months of March through June. They also give the contact information for each of the instructors so students can call to reserve the classes they wish to take.
Happy Hours Creative Classes at the Many Depot are fast becoming favorite weekend activities for both creative and not-so-creative people who like to spend time with both old and new friends, learn something new, and take home their projects.
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