Hailey Rathmann

Pottery is one of the most popular programs at the Turner Center for the Arts, and classes frequently have a waiting list. However, a limited number of spots have recently become available in Weekday Pottery Classes for those who have always wanted to study the ancient art. Available class sessions include Mondays 10am-Noon or 6-8pm, Tuesdays 6-8pm, and Wednesdays 10am-Noon or 6-8pm. Students ages 16 and up enroll in one session, and attend the beginner-friendly class for four weeks consecutively.

Turner Center for the Arts instructor Debra Kantelis teaches nearly a dozen off-campus art outreach classes for youth each month in the Valdosta community, and will be an instructor for the Turner Center’s 2024 Youth Summer Art Camps. She expressed how early exposure to and involvement in the arts shaped her own life and career.

The Turner Center for the Arts provides year-round growth opportunities for all levels of community artists, including Community Christian Academy art teacher Guthrie Groh and her student Israel Hopper. Groh and Hopper have both taken Weekday Pottery Classes at the Turner Center to further their skills under the expert guidance of Turner Center ceramics instructor Ramiro Santillan.

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts and its Young Writers League (YoWL) hosted the 4^th annual Art of Writing Contest, sponsored by the Georgia Council for the Arts, Greater Valdosta United Way, the Valdosta Daily Times, and Snake Nation Press. Middle and high school students in Valdosta, south Georgia, and the surrounding areas were invited to participate in the contest. 141 submissions were received based on this year’s theme, “Imagine.”

Emerson Rados, a fifth grade homeschool student, has won the 2024 Spring Into Art Invitation Design Contest sponsored by Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts.

Anda Chance, an accomplished artist, considers education to be her true career.

Chance instructs monthly colored pencil classes at the Turner Center for the Arts. Classes are beginner friendly, and students will learn color pencil skills and a deep appreciation for and understanding of pencils as a fine art medium. When asked about what a colored pencil class includes, Chance said “My classes focus on the basics of art, color theory, composition, and expression. I prefer students bring in their own ideas so that we can explore them together.”

Lucía Rodríguez Mota has joined the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts as the Richard Hill Glass Studio Manager and Instructor, effective January 11, 2024.

Youth ages 5-12 received a day experience in art education during the holidays through the Turner Center’s 2023/2024 Youth Winter Art Camps, held on the Turner Center campus.