Keweenaw Krayons to launch Art on Wheels program with party July 10

MOHAWK -- Keweenaw Krayons is hosting a party to celebrate the beginning of its Art On Wheels Summer Program, which will bring art instruction and fun to youth throughout Keweenaw County and northern Houghton County. The event, to be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, is free for people of all ages. It will take place at Keweenaw Krayons in the Horizon School building in Mohawk.

Art on Wheels Launch Party poster. Click on poster for larger version. (Image courtesy Keweenaw Krayons)

Crafts planned for the big day include making cement pavers to decorate Keweenaw Krayons’ newly replanted and expanded garden. Children will be encouraged to participate in classic playground games like Red Rover and Duck-Duck-Goose as well as some improv activities.

All guests are eligible to enter a raffle for a chance to win an Art On Wheels tee-shirt. Singer-songwriter Brooke Basto will entertain the crowd with an eclectic mix of covers and her own work.

The event will also feature the debut of the new Art On Wheels Art Car, a 1996 Chevrolet Corsica that will fly the Art On Wheels banner in the absence of Stephanie Treviño’s Make and Do Art Bus.

"The Make and Do Art Bus, which was to be the cornerstone of the Art On Wheels program, was involved in a freeway accident that left it totaled," said Elise Matz, Keweenaw Krayons' newly appointed executive director. "Thankfully, Ms. Treviño walked away from the crash with only minor injuries."

During the June 2011 Art and Music Festival in Houghton, artist Stephanie Treviño conducts an art activity with kids in her Make and Do Art Bus, just weeks before an unfortunate accident totaled the bus. Luckily, Ms. Treviño suffered only minor injuries. Her project -- a senior project for her graduation from Finlandia University's International School of Art and Design -- will continue, thanks to an Art on Wheels Art Car. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

The Art On Wheels Art Car is scheduled to stop in locations throughout northern Houghton and Keweenaw counties during July and August of 2011. Towns scheduled for stops include Calumet, Copper City, Amheek, Eagle River, Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor.

The Keweenaw Krayons Art on Wheels Summer Art Program is funded in part by Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Copper Country Community Arts Council and the Denise Marth Memorial Grant through the Superior Child Abuse Prevention Council.