The Greater Niles Federal Credit Union and Porky’s Party Place, both located in Cassopolis, recently joined with the Cass District Library and Cass Area Artists to sponsor a six-week drawing course at the Cassopolis library.

Sessions were hosted for both adults and children, and, thanks to sponsor donations, children participated free of charge.

The course has been perfect for people who feel they just cannot draw and don’t know where to begin, organizers said. The classes follow instructor Sharron Ott-Bartemio’s purpose of focusing on the fundamentals and providing the tools of knowledge to the students with which they can learn to express their personal view of the world.

Ott-Bartemio, a Dowagiac artist and teacher, is a member of the Cass Area Artists and an organizer of the visual arts portion of the Dogwood Arts Festival. She is a professional artist specializing in fine art, paintings, interior design and teaching.  Murals are one of her passions for interior design.

“She taught me many techniques to apply, not just to art but to the world around me as well,” said Kati Rzepka, one of Ott-Bartemio’s former students.

This course starts with the fundamentals and most often develops the imagination and abilities of participants beyond what they thought was possible.

Indeed, that is one of the values of drawing and art to both children and adults, organizers said. The ability to see things in a new light, the appreciation for things they have available to them, and the sense of personal accomplishment are great benefits.

But the ability to communicate in a new way and the awakening of what they might want to do in the future can be a life changing value.

Schools in Cass County offer art in both grade school and high school, but due to schedule conflicts, not all students have the opportunity to take an art course in school. Thanks to the Cass District Library, the Cass Area Artists and community sponsors, this series of six classes were available to Cass County residents.