Making Art Classes More Accessible

Marco Island Center for the Arts implemented an important new approach for its 2021 Children's Summer Art Workshop, one Hyla Crane, the organization’s executive director, hopes can become a permanent fixture.  

This year, the approximately $100 fee was waved for participants in the annual six-week-long slate of classes for children ages five to 13, that runs through July 23. 

“We looked at how challenging the previous year has been for children, how important the arts are and how they have such a healing effect for kids. They’re therapeutic, as well as knowing that exposure to the arts improves school performance and clearly there are concerns about kids catching up,” Crane explained the decision-making process that culminated in the roughly $100 class fee being waved. “And we wanted to think about what accessibility (to the arts) really means to us here at the Arts Center.”

There’s also no fee for the center’s Young Artist Academy workshops for middle and high school students, held over eight weeks in the fall. The Island Country Club Charitable Foundation has been the major donor behind the academy, said Crane. She added that the success of that fundraising effort helped inspire the decision to waive fees for the academy this year.

“Basically, knowing that we were able to raise funds for one program for children 11 to 18, why not do it for children who are five to 13, which is our summer program,” said Crane. “So, we reached out and had very generous donors that enabled us to create funding so that cost was not going to be a barrier for these children.” 

Proceeds from a special “fund-a-need” segment of the center’s inaugural Wine Tasting and Auction in April were used to ensure that barrier would be removed. 

“We could not have expected the generosity that we saw,” she said. “There were other supporters and grants that we received. But the generosity was just mind boggling.”

Whether the academy will be free for participants in the future remains to be seen. Crane is hopeful that will be the case. 

“I would rather have it be a situation where if a child wants it, it’s there and if a parent would really love for their child to participate in this, there are no reservations or thinking, ‘Oh, it’s too expensive.’”

Marco Island Center for the Arts is located at 1010 Winterberry Drive. For more information about its exhibits, classes, programs, and performances, visit www.marcoislandart.org or call 239-394-4221.