ArtPlay at UAB celebrates 10 years with new online classes for all ages

ArtPlay at UAB — the education and outreach program of the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center — seeks to provide lifelong learning in the arts and to make the arts accessible to the broadest audience.

With weekly classes in the fall and spring, summer camps and other activities, ArtPlay — which also collaborates with the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts and the Institute for Arts in Medicine —provides enriching experiences to people of all ages in the Birmingham area.

ArtPlay, which held its first classes in January 2011, is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. Over the decade, the facility has served more than 140,000 people.

Prominent Birmingham philanthropist Jane Stephens Comer had the original inspiration for ArtPlay and made the facility possible when she donated $5 million to the Alys Stephens Center in 2009.

Comer is very pleased with the results of the facility’s first decade in existence.

“It has surpassed our expectations, and I think it has a strong future ahead,” she told Iron City Ink.

Not surprisingly, ArtPlay has been greatly impacted the last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, and all programming at the facility is currently virtual.

However, the virtual programming has been very successful, said Heath Mixon, the facility’s director.

“We were able to retool 99% of our offerings to work virtually to great success thanks to our amazing tech team and teaching artists,” Mixon said.

That online programming continues as ArtPlay marks its anniversary, and registration is open for new virtual classes in a wide variety of subjects for all age groups for the spring.

ARTPLAY ‘FEELS LIKE HOME’

ArtPlay is headquartered at 1006 19th St. in the lovely ArtPlay House, a historic Victorian residence built in 1896.

The house is located in the center of Five Points South, only blocks away from the Alys Stephens Center.

The facility includes offices, a media room, the poetry room, a drama and dance studio, a visual arts studio and practice rooms.

Along with Mixon, the facility has four other regular staffers — Carlee Sinkus, Rachel Ahrnsen, Mollie Schaefer-Thompson and Christina McClellan — according to UAB Media Relations.

ArtPlay offers about a dozen regular programs, including the classes and workshops, private musical lessons, summer camps in musical theater and visual arts, the ArtPlay Musical Theatre Intensive, visiting artists and performers and Vocabby’s World, a vocabulary building program for children.

Comer recently described her original inspiration for ArtPlay, one that centered on children.

“I wanted an art facility for kids where they could become self-sufficient in their art skills,” she said. “That is, an out-of-school place where they could participate in art activities because they chose to. Also it would be a place where they could do their own choreographing, write, produce and direct their own plays and discover their talent.”

That vision has been fulfilled, and ArtPlay has served other age groups as well.

“My favorite thing about ArtPlay is that it feels like home to so many,” Mixon said. “The students that explore ArtPlay’s many programs at the house or in the community, come home to learn with an amazing artistic family. We have something for all ages. Everyone deserves to explore their creative soul.”

“From the very first planning session, we knew ArtPlay was going to be a special place to grow love for the arts in our community,” said Lili D. Anderson, UAB’s executive director of visual and performing arts.

Administrators are proud of the way ArtPlay adapted to COVID-19 and made the shift to online instruction.

“ArtPlay is pioneering new ways to give enriching arts experiences through its virtual classes, camps and family events,” Anderson said. “Now without geographic limitations, anyone with access to the internet can take a class.”

The facility has attracted students from states including New Jersey, Utah and Hawaii and foreign countries as far away as Colombia, according to UAB Media Relations.

Some programs will retain a virtual component even when ArtPlay is able to go back to in-person offerings.

“We are anxious to get back to in-person classes, but we have learned many things from remote learning that we will incorporate in future programming,” Mixon said. “We have also been able to open our door — virtually — to people from all over the world which is not something we could have ever dreamed of during the pandemic.”

“Since the pandemic began, we have seen how valuable the arts — and the connection and inspiration we find in them — are in our lives,” Anderson said.

There are online classes available at ArtPlay beginning in March for all age groups: adult, middle and high school, elementary and preK.

It is always fun to put together a slate of classes for ArtPlay, Schaefer-Thompson said.

“It’s an opportunity to get to know teaching artists, learn what they are doing and see how we can bring that to the community,” she said. “Although organizing virtual classes presents its challenges, I am very thankful to our teaching artists who continue to lead engaging and lively online classes.”

The following are the adult classes — for ages 19 and older — offered online this spring.

Registration is open now. Class fees begin at $30.

For a complete list of classes at ArtPlay, go to alysstephens.org/classes.

Register for classes online or by calling 205-975-4769 or go to the website.

WRITING THE PANDEMIC

► Teaching Artist: Tina Mozelle Braziel

► Thursdays, 6-8 p.m.

► March 4-April 8 (six weeks)

► $80

How has the pandemic changed your life? What would you want future generations to know about this time? Share your experiences with others. Each week, participants will use writing prompts to develop ideas and explore creative writing techniques to shape their stories. All writers, beginning and experienced, are welcome.

BROADWAY CARDIO

► Teaching Artist: Reid Watson

► Thursdays, 6-7 p.m.

► March 4-March 25 (four weeks)

► $50

This class was specifically requested by ArtPlay parents and created for stage moms and dads and other adults. Activities will include cardio done to Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli and isolations, movement sequences and core training performed to such modern musicals as “Legally Blonde,” “Mean Girls” and “Heathers.” The class will aim for the five Cs: clarity, control, comfort, choreography and calories. All levels of experience and ability and all body types are welcome. If you’re an adult who loves Broadway shows and wants a creative way to burn a few calories, this is the class for you.

CREATIVE NONFICTION

► Teaching Artist: Audrey Adkins

► Tuesdays, 6-8 p.m.

► March 2-April 6 (six weeks)

► $80

Turn your life’s stories into works of art. Students will learn the art of writing their true stories, as well as the craft of establishing voice, theme, mood, character and place.

INTRODUCTION TO OIL PAINTING

► Teaching Artist: Tonya Wise

► Tuesdays, 6-8 p.m.

► March 2-April 6 (6 weeks)

► $100

Join this six-week introductory class in oil painting, students will learn about the process of preparing a canvas, color blending and shading. Supplies are not included.

INTRODUCTION TO STAND-UP COMEDY

► Teaching Artist: Carla Youngblood

► Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m.

► March 3-April 21 (eight weeks)

► $100

This class is an introduction to writing and performing stand-up comedy with a focus on finding the funny in everyday life situations, finding your unique comedy voice and developing stage presence.

SELF-REFLEXIVE CINEMA

► Teacher: Gareth Jones

► Mondays, 6-8 p.m.

► March 1-April 5 (six weeks)

► $35

People often watch movies to escape reality and immerse themselves in the illusion of cinema. However, in this course, participants will watch films that push audiences out of their comfort zones and confront them with their viewing experience. These films will make students fully aware they are watching a film and ask them to think about the experience — thematically, aesthetically and even physically. Jones is the co-host of the “Sleep In Cinema” radio segment on Substrate Radio.