Gearing up for Fall!

With the start of the school year less than a week away, the Cook Arts Center and the Cook Library Center are gearing up their programs for the fall. Registration is open for daytime and after school classes at the Cook Arts Center. Programs in dance, visual arts, music, fabric arts, clay and theatre are offered for children as young as 2 up to adults. Options include Children's Hula Dance, Latin American Art for Kids, Jewelry, After School Pottery, Children's Sewing, Guitar, Potter's Wheel, Theatre Games, and more. In addition, children in grades 6th-8th can sign up for a digital arts class at the Cook Library Center on Wednesday afternoons. Programs are free for children or adults who live within the boundaries of the Grandville Avenue neighborhood or attend one of the schools within the neighborhood. For more information about programs, please contact the Cook Arts Center at 742-0692.

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center and the Cook Library Center.

Last Summer Reading Club Field Trip

The Cook Library Center's last field trip for the summer included a visit
down to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.  This trip was possible thanks
to the the generosity of the Have a Heart Scholarship. Mary Nelson and
Library Director, Sue Garza, enjoyed watching the kids play and have fun!
The Curious George Exhibits were great! The bubbles, creative play, Legos,
and the mirrors were the best!

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the
Cook Library Center.

Visit to the GRAM

On Thursday, August 19 we took 11 children to the Grand Rapids Art Museum and had a personal tour with two great GRAM docents, Mr. Paul and Ms. Sue. The children had a chance to check out the GRAM's fantastic facility and also to look at paintings, sculpture and photography. Following the tour, we gathered in Rosa Parks Circle for a picnic lunch. What a day! Thank you to the GRAM for opening your doors to our group and thank you also to our special volunteers Ms. Cat, Ms. Diane and Ms. Nancy for helping out today!

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center.

What's Brewing: Cook Arts Center

The Cook Arts Center was featured on WOOD TV's eight West program on Tuesday, August 17. We were able to talk about lots of exciting fall programs coming up including a Spanish book club, art classes for kids, adult potter's wheel, hula dance, a Spanish choir, children's sewing and much, much more! Call us at 742-0692 to register or for more information.

Check it out here:



Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center.

National Night Out at the Cook Library Center

The Cook Library Center was brimming with activity inside 
and outside on Tuesday, August 3 for National Night Out 
which is a time for the community to get together, enjoy 
each other's friendship and take a stand against crime.  
Thank you to the YMCA for the delicious smoothies and fun 
activities, Macatawa Bank for the great food, GRPD and 
GRFD for their support and Roosevelt Park Neighborhood 
Association for their great coordination of this event!

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs
of the Cook Library Center.

Crossing Cultures 2010

Summer arts camp at the Cook Arts Center is in full swing this week and next week. From 9am to 3:30pm, children ages 7 to 12 are learning about cultures around the world such as Italy, Iceland, Africa, the Caribbean and Indonesia. Highlights this week have included creating plates of Italian spaghetti and pizza out of clay, painting Indonesian orangutans in art class, beating African rhythms on the congos and learning lines to the Icelandic folktale in theatre class. All this action is gearing up for our arts festival and performance on Thursday, August 12th at the Wealthy Theatre. Come join us!

On a less happy note, today is our last day working with our project interns, Connie and Chelsea. We thank them for all their help these last few months and wish them a fantastic rest of their summer!

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center.

Summer Arts Camp off to a Big Start!

The Cook Arts Center's summer arts called "Crossing Cultures" for children ages 7-12 began today. Fifty children from the Grandville Avenue neighborhood are traveling the world through art, dance, clay, music and theatre over the next two weeks . The camp will culminate with an arts festival and performance at the Wealthy Theatre on August 12 at 6:30pm. More updates from camp to come!

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center.