Our intent when out in the community is to have as many experiences related to art as possible. Many artists will go to a coffee shop to draw, go to a playhouse to see a production, go to a concert, join discussion or collaborate with other artists, experiencing community regularly. The EC Artists are part of many communities some attend weekend events with families, some are from other cities in Merced County. During program we coordinate our community engagement to be art driven.

Art Making in the Community Goal

As we look towards the future of our community integration efforts, we would love to offer opportunities for the EC Artists to make art in the outdoors by adding to our program — Outdoor Studio.

Outdoor Studio will be a component initially offered in Visual Arts with plans for extending to the Performing Arts component. In Outdoor Studio, EC Artists signed up, will use easy-to-travel easels and their preferred medium to work with once a week for 13-weeks in a selected area of the community; a park, Bob Hart Square, etc. During the hot summers, the outdoor studio will be offered in digital art or drawing mediums, selecting a local coffee shop to work at.

How you can help us reach this goal: donating or buying items off of our Wishlist on Blick, Blick Oakland recently partnered up with the Merced County Arts Council, Inc. donating canvases and 100 lbs of ceramic clay to the EC for our reopening.