ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Orange Beach Arts Center’s After School Arts Program (ASAP) will begin the sixth class term of the 2011-12 school year on April 2. Term 6 lasts for eight weeks, ending May 25.

ASAP is a limited enrollment program designed to supplement children's education with the best arts education possible. Individual attention is a hallmark of ASAP as children are guided through a broad spectrum of artistic educational experiences by qualified instructors who recognize and value the natural creative talents of each child, taking them beyond the often limited offerings of public education.

ASAP is offered to first through sixth graders each school day from 3-6 p.m. (class time is 3:30-5 p.m.). Transportation from Gulf Shores Elementary and Orange Beach Elementary School is available.

An additional class for middle and high school students is offered on Thursday afternoons.

Term 6 Classes are:

Monday: Public Art/Creative Writing. For term 6, this class will focus on Street Art. Street Art projects are planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the public eye.

Contemporary street art includes a variety of media, such as LED art, mosaic tiling, murals, stencil art, sticker art, street installations, video projection and yarn bombing. Students will create individual projects from concept to execution using traditional techniques in new ways.

The instructor is Silverhill native Katie Avant, art/art history graduate of the University of Montevallo and Artist Relations/Graphic Design Administrator at Coastal Art Center at Orange Beach.

Tuesday: Pottery. This class will explore hand-building pottery techniques and glazing. Katie Avant will teach this class, also.

Wednesday: Island Voices Performance Choir. Sing! Move! This ongoing class presents an opportunity for Pleasure Island children to learn to sing and perform in our community. Island Voices is led by Gay James, Tim Brannan, and Ryan England, all of whom are music teachers at Orange Beach Elementary, Gulf Shores Elementary, Middle, and High Schools, and Swift School.

Thursday: Adventures in Drawing. Drawing is intertwined with the ability to see - the two can hardly be separated. To see the way an artist sees can and will enrich your life. This class will focus on five basic skills of drawing: perception of edges; perception of spaces; perception of relationships; light and shadow; and the whole, or gestalt.

Both pencils and colored pencils will be used. Yvette Jones, art teacher for Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Swift Schools will teach Adventures in Drawing.

Also on Thursday: Drawing for Real. This class is for both beginning and advanced middle & high school students. Sixth graders serious about their art are accepted on a case-by-case basis. Spend Thursday afternoons exploring the fundamentals of drawing, shading and perspective.

Pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, and pen and ink media will be introduced. Students will have a strong foundation in draftsmanship by the end of this course. Shaun Conroy, a Graphic Arts graduate of Pensacola Christian College, leads Drawing for Real. Individual instruction is a hallmark of Mr. Conroy’s teaching, and continuing students build on their previous work, and newcomers begin “where they are.”

Friday: ASAP Theatre Troupe. The Theatre Troupe will present “Ars Dramatica,” a variety celebration of the theatre arts, on 12 May 2012. The ASAP Theatre Troupe is led by Grace Collins Stanton and Kathryn Price. Theatre Troupe enrollment has been determined by auditions and is closed until auditions for the 2012-13 school year in August.

Students may enroll at ASAP for one or more days per week. The fees are $10 per day or $40 a week for full time students. Enrollment is for the entire term.

For more information contact the Arts Center at 251-981-2787.