Children’s Museum offers winter classes

Pottery, art, and music will entertain children and adults in classes at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge in February.

Pottery classes, taught by professional clay artist Sherrie Carrie, will be:

• Hand Building and Wheel Throwing for Adults, on Fridays, Feb. 1, 8, 15 and 22, 10 a.m.-noon, for ages 18 and up. Students will learn varying methods for creating functional and sculptural pieces. All levels are welcome. Intermediate and advanced students will learn new techniques and improve skills, using the potter’s wheel, extruder, and hand-building methods. Fee: $50 for members, $55 for non-members. Glaze and fire fee: $7. Class limited to 6.
• Luv Hearts Pottery, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 11 a.m.-noon, ages 3-5 with an adult. Hand-build a small clay heart ornament and heart flowers. Fee: $7 for members, $12 for non-members. Glaze and fire fee: $4.
• Heart Art Pottery, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 1:30-3:30 p.m., ages 7-12. Hand-build a clay, heart shaped Valentine container with a lid, then decorate. Fee: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Glaze and fire fee: $4.
• Brownies Pottery Badge, on Saturday, Feb. 9, 1-3:30 p.m., for Brownie Scouts. Scouts will learn how to handle clay, two clay building techniques, and go on a scavenger hunt. They will hand-build a pot and an art piece, then paint and glaze. The class will be repeated March 6, April 6 and May 4. Fee: $12 for girls; free for 2 leaders. Minimum: 5. Maximum: 15.

Lucia Andronescu, a Romanian native who teaches flamenco and shares the tradition of Spanish dance, music and culture, will teach a class in castanets. She attended the Flamenco Academy at the University of New Mexico and studied with several Flamenco artists. She is the founder of Pasion Flamenca, a student dance group in Knoxville. Her class is:

• Palillos Finger Music, on Wednesdays, Feb. 20, 27 and March 6, 1:45 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., ages 12-18. Learn to play castanets with Andronescu, no musical experience necessary. Castanets are a centuries-old percussion instrument used on your fingers. Practice castanets are available. For additional information, see the instructor’s web site: www.flamencowestknox.com. Fee: $30 for members, $35 for non-members. Registration deadline: Feb. 17. Specify either time when registering.

Art classes will be:

• Recycled Robot, on Saturday, Feb. 23, 10 a.m.-noon, ages 5-7. Create a robot made from recycled and found items: boxes, paper towel rolls, empty milk cartons, buttons, foil, paper scraps and more. Fee: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration deadline: Feb. 21.
• Seriously Surreal, on Saturday, Feb. 23, 1-3 p.m., ages 13-15. Learn about the surrealistic style of artist Salvador Dali, featuring the component of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions. Create a surrealist inspired piece with elements not normally found together to produce startling effects. Fee: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Registration deadline: Feb. 21.
• Happy Feet Preschool Class, on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 1:30-2:30 p.m., ages 3-5. Do penguins sleep? What do they eat? What colors are they? Who takes care of the egg, and the baby? Children will explore these questions as they assemble a penguin puppet, make a snack, then try out happy feet. Fee: $15 for members, $20 for non-members. Registration deadline: Feb. 23.

To register for classes, call the Children’s Museum at (865) 482-1074, or see the web site to download a registration page at www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org.