Arts and music classes to resume in September; shows are scheduled
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – After nearly six months of being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ocean City Arts Center is coming back “full force” after Labor Day, restarting classes and shows.
The staff and teachers are anxious to get back to teaching art and music.
According to Executive Director Rosalyn Lifshin, the Arts Center picked the right time to reopen.
“We wanted to make sure that our teachers, our students and our members would be safe when we came back,” Lifshin said. “We thought we’d wait until after the summer, after the busy time, so everyone would feel safe.”
It hasn’t been easy being closed for so long.
“It was difficult certainly from not being able to see our friends in the community and not running our art camps. That was difficult for us because we love to have our children in for the art camps. We weren’t able to do that this year. A lot of our summer friends that we see every year we weren’t able to talk to this year.”
Losing the summer season didn’t help from a financial standpoint either.
“It’s difficult because many of our classes run in the summer and we’re able to make enough revenue to last year round,” she said. “So really from a social standpoint, from a community standpoint and also financially it was very difficult this summer.”
But that time is over.
“We are coming back full force. We are going to be open from 9 to 9 Monday to Friday like we have been in the past and 9 to 3 on Saturdays,” she said, adding most of the teachers are anxious to come back and get going with their classes.
The Arts Center is keeping safety in mind with the pandemic ongoing.
Classes are going to be smaller. Many of the classes have more than 15 students so the center is considering having the classes smaller, and, for example, having half as many students at a time. They will be rotating the classes so students may take two classes a month instead of four. “We’ll have half of the class in one week and the other half the following week,” she said. “That should keep us at the level so we’re within the social distancing requirements.”
Lifshin said the staff will be taking the temperature of everyone who comes in to the center and there will be a plastic shield at the front desk to protect the staff. Everyone will have to wear masks and classrooms will be disinfected after each class. There also will be additional cleaning done.
There is a new air-conditioning system in the building “so I believe that should help with the quality of the air. We’ll follow all of the state requirements.”
There should be a full load of courses, with some exceptions. The music teachers are ready to go. She noted how guitar teachers can easily be 6 feet from their students during the lessons.
“Our painting teachers will be back. Our pottery teachers are anxious to come back, so those classes will resume.”
She said dance classes, at present, are questionable. The center should be able to have some small children’s dance classes, but at this point ballroom dancing is not being offered. (She pointed out it is hard to socially distance during ballroom dancing, but they are looking at ways for the instructor to teach from a distance.
Because the center is just reopening after Labor Day, Lifshin asks to give the staff a day or two to update the center’s website – www.oceancityartscenter.org. Students can check in to see the class schedule and start signing up. Lifshin expects to get the classes started in mid to late September.
Shows begin
The shows are also resuming in the Arts Center gallery.
Starting on Sept. 14, the painting students will be showing their works in the gallery through the end of the month.
Beginning in October, fabric artist Ellen Brown will be showing the works she creates, such as shawls and ponchos. The Philadelphia resident, who summers in Ocean City, will be showing a lot of the clothing she creates.
The annual Juried Art Show will be back in November. Lifshin reminds artists a notice for that show is going out soon so they should be thinking about what work they would like considered for the show.
In addition, the annual pottery show will be in December. “Our potters will be back in to create some beautiful work for Christmas gifts,” Lifshin said.
Overall, the director said, she expects it to be a slow start at the Arts Center because people are going to be cautious about going out.
“That is why we’re going to keep it super clean and we’re reducing the size of the class to keep it manageable. It’s going to be a challenge but I know we’re up for it,” Lifshin said.
The Arts Center is upstairs at the Ocean City Community Center at 1735 Simpson Ave.