The Rapid City Arts Council Provides Art Lessons For Local Families

The Rapid City Arts Council is housed in the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City. They’re hosting classes and activities for all ages. 

Katie Wolff, Education Coordinator for the Dahl Arts Center, says, “Basically our overall mission is bringing art and people together, bringing people together through art. Whether that’s connecting the galleries over to education, that sort of thing. Basically, it’s how do we get the community in and then also meet people outside. Art is something that really sets us apart, as humans, that need to create. And I think we miss that often in the day-to-day, just like going-through-the-motions type of life. So I think it really helps us kind of ground ourselves and that kind of innate creation, and whether that is visual arts or music or craft, or, you know, it can be so many things cooking, you know, I think just being in connection with that need to create is why it’s so important for all ages.”

The Rapid City Arts Council hosts camps are for ages 8 to 12. Camps include mixed media camp, arts and crafts, theme, nature and art, comics and anime, creative writing, and travel the world through art.  

Wolff continues, “All camps are Monday through Thursday from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM. We do have scholarships available for students as well — K through 12 for camp. Art Studio is opening June 1, so that’ll be open during our gallery hours and that’s geared for ages, I believe, 2 to 8. There’s plenty of art supplies. There’s also lots of art books about artists, about different art movements. There’s books on how to draw, how to paint, that sort of thing. There’s also blocks, magnetic building materials, and there’s a chalkboard, a whiteboard. So basically, yeah, just an open-ended art studio space. I think there’s some dress up stuff too, like, kind of what you have at a photo booth. And a smart table and a couple iPads that have art games on them as well.”

Saturday art adventures are every second Saturday of the month from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. It begins with a gallery tour and then participants will head over to the education side for craft. 

The Rapid City Arts Council also has adult classes. Wolff says that typically the adult classes slow down in the summer. But they have watercolor classes, oil painting classes, and drawing classes in the fall, winter and spring.

Music is also encompassed as part of the art outreach. 

Wolff explains, “I think the Arts Council and the Dahl often just gets lumped into visual arts, but we also have a lot of performing and musical art programs as well. So like our emerging artist program that happens on Friday evenings. We have our emerging artist showcase. But you know, often it’s musical artists who are just kind of getting their bearings, practicing doing a little bit, performing here and there.”