Workshops
Winnsboro Center for the Arts has an ongoing program of workshops for both adults and children. All workshops are held at our Annex at 212 Market Street.
If you have ideas, would like a specific topic offered for a workshop or if you are an instructor who would like to offer a workshop here at WCA please contact us at 903-342-0686 or by email at wca.artscenter@gmail.com.
Please be sure to read our Terms & Conditions for classroom expectations.
Paint-A-Canvas
Saturday, October 7th
6:30PM - 9:00PM
$35, All supplies included
Join instructor Brenda Roberts for a Paint-A-Canvas workshop. You will be able to choose from two fall-themed templates and then paint your own masterwork using acrylic paints. You will be provided with all supplies as well as a 16×20 canvas. You will also be able to enjoy some snacks while you work. This is the perfect social gathering for a cool Saturday evening.
Class/Workshop Descriptions & Registration
Our Instructors
Nancy Beauchamp
Watercolor and Pastels for All Levels
Nancy Beauchamp, who currently lives in Winnsboro, graduated from Principia College with a degree in Fine Arts, Studio and Art History. She also participated in an Art Abroad course in Europe. Pastels are her medium of choice in landscapes, still life’s and animal portraits. She teaches workshops and weekly classes in pastels and is a regular instructor at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. Nancy has been blessed with numerous awards in art competitions.
Dani Blanton
Yoga
Dani Blanton is a Registered-Experienced 200 HR Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance. She graduated in northeast Texas at Yama Yoga in 2019. She advanced her education in 2022 while training for 5 weeks in Peru with Kula Collective. Dani is now recognized as a Registered 500 Hour Yoga Teacher. She is also a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher and shares her love for the practice during the Summer Kids Camps at the WCA with Yoga Story Time and Drum Circles. She also teaches adults specialty WorkShops at the WCA Annex.
Dani was born and raised in Wood County and lives outside of Quitman
on Lake Fork with her husband, Ronald, and their three dogs: Bella
Goose, and Gracie. Her journey to yoga began in 2018. She felt broken emotionally, physically and mentally. Over time she felt this practice helping her come back into a balance after stumbling through life not understanding her purpose. She was lost yet finding her way.
Over time Dani released her toxic lifestyle habit by habit, thought by thought, addiction by addiction. She faced her traumas and shadows. She learned from them and yearned for the light. She knew she had to share this practice with her community and advance on this path of wellness, yoga and education. She continues to deepen her practices with the expansion of Thai BodyWork, Reiki, Water Yoga, Paddleboard, Memory Maintenance, Restorative, Yin Yoga, and Psychedelic BreathWork. She is learning how to get high on her own supply. She is learning to ride the waves of life no matter how turbulent or calm. Dani invites you to learn to surf the waves of life with her. It is all about the journey. Let’s make some waves.
Matthew Mahaffey
Colored Pencil
Matthew Mahaffey has always enjoyed trying new things when it comes to creating art. Although his primary field is in music as a saxophonist and professor, Matthew has spent years honing his skills in the visual arts.
Matthew began his artist journey by learning to paint with oils, and he has contributed a number of pieces to WCA exhibits over the years. It was when he picked up his first set of colored pieces that Matthew truly felt he was able to produce the quality of work he had always wanted to. Matthew teaches both music lessons and colored pencil workshops at WCA.
Matthew currently lives in Winnsboro. He is the Adjunct Professor of Saxophone at Southern Arkansas University and Director of Education at Winnsboro Center for the Arts.
Brenda Roberts
General Art & Ceramics
She has worked in graphic arts, illustration, airbrush art, and exhibit design before settling into ceramics, arts education and art therapy. “I was led to do art and to ultimately teach. I once was an exhibit designer and education director for a major science museum where I worked with local school children and developed hands-on exhibits,” she said. “It’s communicating who you are to the general public – the same as writing or music or any other art. Creation became my way of not only expressing myself, but connecting and encouraging others.”
As a secondary public school art and home school teacher, Brenda spent years leading her students to find their own path to creativity while working extensively with special needs students. Watching a young person find a means of value and self-esteem through art has been her greatest reward. One of the most effective methods of nurturing that creativity has been through ceramics. Discovering the passion of working with clay was a major turning point in her own artistic journey as well. She says that the tactile feeling of clay and making pottery is healing for both young and old.
“Take elements from the Earth, add a little water, let dry, glaze with pretty colors, heat up to around two-thousand degrees in temperature – each step becomes a transition of raw material into a ceramic work of art,” she said, “While working in clay we leave a part of ourselves in every piece. The feeling that our little clay pot will potentially carry our essence and DNA far into the future gives us a sense of perpetual interconnectedness to our fellow human beings. All art – no matter what the medium is – has the ability to bring joy, peace, and thought into the lives of those who both create and receive a work of art.”
Brenda has been involved with the Winnsboro Center for the Arts since 2010 as a volunteer and board member, previously serving as President and Exhibition Curator. She teaches children’s general art and clay classes at the art center and her home studio, as well as ceramic and acrylic painting workshops for adults.
