Dahl reception honors special group of artists

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Saturday, the Dahl Art Center celebrated the completion of its first creative aging class.

Friends and families gathered at the Dahl to showcase art students created in the last two months.

Launched by the South Dakota Arts Council, the creative aging program allows local artists to offer free classes to the community.

“The purpose is to enrich the lives of older adults aged 55 and older through arts. You know that art is so fulfilling to the heart, and to me the exchanges that we did through art, it meant a lot to both of us instructor and students,” said Yoko Sugawara, who teaches the creative aging program at the Dahl Art Center.

Saturday’s session offered clay hand-building classes to seniors with special needs, specifically adults who are legally blind.

The class taught students a variety of skills and they were able to create things such as mugs and plates along with clay elephants that were showcased at the reception.

“I do a lot of things on my own, but I was saying I really have not done a lot of group things in the last few years, or my husband and I will do things, but it was nice to be a part of a group,” said Laura Collins, one of the students in the program.