Students participate in the Annual All-Day Studio Art Workshop in the CFTA on April 24, 2007. Every year instead of going off-campus for a Studio Art filed trip, Ellen Nelson, instructor of the arts, brings artists to the students. She devotes an entire day to art making which is a unique experience for her students who are used to 40-minute class periods.
This past year she invited the artist, Dane Tilghman. Ellen was introduced to Dane and his work as he was the featured artist for the opening of the gallery at the Montgomery County Community College. She was struck by his ability to move seemlessly from realism, to impressionism, to expressionism to abstraction and thought her students would have a few things to learn from him. Her students were asked to select subject matter that they could envision as realistic and abstracted. The assignment to create two paintings: one realistic, the other abstracted. Dane demonstrated to the students his painting technique in the morning. In the afternoon students painted while Dane critiqued their progress.