On November 21, 2016, the Watersmeet School Board of Education voted to partner with LOLA in effort to enrich the curriculum with art classes.  Dr. Gerald Pease, Watersmeet School District Superintendent, stated, “As a small school district in the western UP of Michigan, being able to partner with LOLA to provide needed art activities for our students is an incredible gift. The courses will provide our students with many broad based experiences in art disciplines that the students may not have received at school. We are so fortunate to have LOLA offer a partnership with Watersmeet Township School District to bring this opportunity to our students!”

According to LOLA Program Director, Wendy Powalisz, “We are very excited about traveling to Watersmeet to bring the students some varied art courses, both in visual and performance art.  Currently they do not have an art teacher, so LOLA will share our instructors to give the kids more exposure to the arts.  And for the near future, we hope that Watersmeet students will also travel to the LOLA Center to participate in classes or activities as part of an arts field trip.”

Some of the classes that will be held for the children will include a series that will study the works of famous artists and have the children duplicate the style or technique in a project of their own.  Other projects will be creating sculptures with recycled materials, working with clay and cooking classes.  LOLA will also bring in instructors for dance, theatre and other visual arts.

Funding for this type of programming will come in-part, from applying to the State of Michigan for funding grants.