A Typical Afternoon at Patchwork

Last Thursday was a pretty typical afternoon in the Arts & Smarts program. It was also pretty wonderful.

First came open-ended time for everyone to relax and play board games or do other activities of their choosing. Then came snack and conversations around the snack table.

Meanwhile, a group of children were being tutored. The tutoring room was filled with a quiet murmur of youth and their tutors reading books, practicing multiplication, working on homework, and playing educational games to build skills.

After snack, the younger children went to the Patchwork library for Book Club. One of our tutors, Patti Easley, is a published author, and last Thursday she and Eliza read one of her books together on the couch. Across the room, Breck read to Peyton. Also reading? Jessica, mom of some of our participants, who had had one title on the book cart catch her eye last week. She decided the young adult book was interesting enough that she wanted to finish it this week.

Meanwhile another group sat in Patchwork’s main room working on their weaving project. It’s something that they’ve been making progress on for the past month or two. They chatted and helped one another. Peacefully adding row after row of yarn to make a pillow or “fairy bed” has been a popular activity.

At the same time, another group was out in the studio glazing ceramic art that Art & Company will sell at Patchwork’s Pancake Extravaganza this Saturday, April 21. The artwork  includes house numbers, fairies, and garden markers. The group in the studio carefully painted glaze on fairy wings and outlined the words on garden markers like “Bloom,” “Sunrise,” and “Fairies.”

Then 5 pm came, everyone headed home, and the building was quiet.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *