Watercolor Painting for Families

with Kim Meyers Baas & Baxter Baas

June 14, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $125 per family (up to 4, an additional $20 per student for 5 or more)

Materials Fee: $10 per family

Ox-Bow’s campus provides hundreds of beautiful views for painting the landscape. Families will explore views of the lagoon, meadow, and woods while painting en plein air with watercolor. Experiment with techniques such as washes, color mixing, mark making, and creating textures inspired by the natural environment.

Plan to bring: All paint and surfaces will be provided but students are encouraged to bring pencils, sketchbooks, and an apron.

Kim Meyers Baas (she/her), is an arts educator with a rich history of fostering youth artists and community workers in Michigan, Chicago, and along the Mexican/Texas border since 1992. She has served as an artist educator with Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency, Calvin University, Kendall College of Art & Design, Chicago Public Schools, Valley AIDS Council, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and ART21. Currently, Kim is the Fine Arts Director for Kentwood Public Schools. Her teaching practice delves into family identity, migration, culturally responsive practices, and the intersection of art + technology in marginalized communities. Kim holds a BA from Loyola University Chicago and an MAAE from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Baxter Baas (he/him), born in Chicago raised in West Michigan. Currently an undergrad student at the University of Michigan in the Stamps College studying Art and Design. He has been a part of Ox-Bow since his mother brought him as a little kid. Now he is still engaged in the Ox-Bow community through working on the culinary team.

Papermaking Play for Families

with Rowan Leek

July 12, 3:00–6:00 p.m.

Tuition: $125 per family (up to 4, an additional $20 per student for 5 or more)

Materials fee: $20 per family

Join us for papermaking fun for the whole family. Learn to make your very own gorgeous paper, using different types of fiber, and leave with multiple sheets that can be air dried at home. We will explore various materials for papermaking including recycled paper, cotton, rag, and natural fibers. Family members will also paint together with brightly colored pulps to collaboratively form expressive and lively sheets of paper. After your paper is dry you can use it to craft, draw on it, or simply admire it as an artwork in its own right.

Plan to bring: A notebook or sketchbook, waterproof shoes like rainboots, and any botanical or collage materials you want to play with.

Rowan Leek is a paper and fiber artist originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2020 with a BFA in Sculpture + Expanded Media. While in college, he interned at the Morgan Conservatory for two summers and learned paper and printmaking. He went on to receive a studio management internship at Penland School of Art’s Books + Paper Studios and returned the following winter as a studio assistant. Leek is currently residing in West Michigan and working as Campus Manager at Ox-Bow. Leek’s work has been shown at The Reinberger, the Betsy Gallery, Bostwick Design Initiative, and as part of the Queer Hanky Exhibition at Women’s Studio Workshop, Zygote, and The Future.

Watercolor Painting for Tweens and Teens

with Kim Meyers Baas

August 9, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $100

Materials Fee: $10

This workshop offers students ages 8-16 the opportunity to explore views of the lagoon, meadow, and woods while painting en plein air with watercolor. Experiment with techniques such as washes, color mixing, mark making, and creating textures inspired by the natural environment. This is a drop-off workshop for youth ages 8-16 only! Parents are welcome to drop off their young artists or to stay on campus during the course of the workshop.

Plan to bring: All paint and surfaces will be provided but students are encouraged to bring pencils, sketchbooks, and an apron.

Kim Meyers Baas (she/her), is an arts educator with a rich history of fostering youth artists and community workers in Michigan, Chicago, and along the Mexican/Texas border since 1992. She has served as an artist educator with Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency, Calvin University, Kendall College of Art & Design, Chicago Public Schools, Valley AIDS Council, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and ART21. Currently, Kim is the Fine Arts Director for Kentwood Public Schools. Her teaching practice delves into family identity, migration, culturally responsive practices, and the intersection of art + technology in marginalized communities. Kim holds a BA from Loyola University Chicago and an MAAE from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.