New art center seeks to educate, showcase area students and artists
By JAMES EIK
Staff Reporter
Creating a painting or portrait takes time and skill, but Art Jacobs and the West Plains Art Center are seeking to break down barriers and help make art accessible to area residents.
There, students and anyone with a passing interest in art can come to hone their skills and discover their abilities.
“My hope is for them to come in and have fun. It's a non-threatening environment,” Jacobs, the center's owner said.
Opening a studio and learning center has been a dream for quite some time.
“My dream has always been to have a personal studio just to show my artwork, and ultimately have a place where I can teach people who are interested in pursuing their own creative craft,” he said.
After about five or six years, that dream is now a reality.
Jacobs chose the location for the arts center in part because of his teaching experience at Spokane Community College. There, he had some students driving all the way into Spokane from Reardan and Davenport.
From start to finish, opening the studio has been an easy project, he said, with all of the elements going very smoothly.
In part, he hopes the location in Medical Lake will help shorten the drive while at the same time appealing to the greater West Plains area.
Jacobs started doodling at a young age, but said portraiture was the true art form that caught his eye.
“There's something about creating a three-dimensional image, a face, on paper,” he said. “I've done landscape and some still life, but nothing grabs my attention, my curiosity or intrigue like portraiture.”
Two portraits he drew at the age of 16 received good comments at an African American history banquet. It turns out that was enough to persuade him to continue.
“That encouraged me to continue pursuing my artwork,” Jacobs said.
His work has even found its way to the Fox Theater in Spokane.
Some years ago, Jacobs drew 11 portraits of jazz musicians for the Ellis Upper Club in Spokane. A Fox Theater board member saw one and asked Jacobs to create a portrait of singer Marion Anderson.
That portrait was unveiled in February 2008 at the venue.
Outside of his personal projects, Jacobs has taught at Michaels in the Spokane Valley, Spokane Community College and at the Corbin Arts Center.
He approaches teaching through a step-by-step method.
Some, he said, may have had a bad experience with art, or weren't able to overcome a creative block. As a result, the pencils and burshes were put away.
“Each one of us has the ability to do something creative,” he said.
Unlocking that creativity is just like learning to write.
“I go step by step and really compare it from going to printing your name to writing in cursive,” he said. “Art is really all about lines, angles and curves, and so is going from printing to cursive.”
To help get past the initial creative barrier, Jacobs has numerous blank canvases lining the walls of the studio. Anyone can go in, use a set of 30 pens, and create something, anything that comes to mind.
“It's just to help remove the barrier to drawing,” he said. “There's no structure. Just come in and draw your name if you want, a smiley face, a stick figure. Once you do that, you'll find out how fun it is and come to the classes.”
Jacobs is bringing in area talent to help instruct classes at the art center. He'll be teaching classes on portraits, understanding color and still lifes. Kevin Bowers, from SCC, will provide classes on pastel drawing and acrylics.
Jacobs is also finalizing classes with Janet Wilbanks, a Cheney area artist, who will teach oil classes.
Wilbanks will also have four to six paintings on display at the studio through May, as will Dennis Smith, another local artist.
James Eik can be reached at [email protected].
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