Success Story

Color Wheel Community Art Project

10/10/18

In Whitley County, Kentucky, quality art experiences outside the Whitley County Extension Community Art Center and school are scarce. People are rarely exposed to the arts, not to mention the elements and basic fundamentals of visual art. As an opportunity to reach out to the community and expose them to arts experiences, Whitley County Extension Fine Arts participated in Williamsburg tourism’s Old Fashioned Trading Days, hosted by Williamsburg Tourism. People from all over the county come out for this event and it is a great way to introduce extension programs. At this event, Extension Fine Arts set up a booth to inform people about the Extension Community Art Center in downtown Williamsburg and to promote upcoming art classes and events.

While preparing for Old Fashioned Trading Days this year, the Fine Arts program assistant decided she really wanted to add an arts education component. She decided to teach the community the basics of the color wheel. Color wheels are essential to artists, especially painters. By performing this exercise average people were able to compare the colors, learn the relationship between primary colors and secondary colors, and complementary colors and analogous colors. A giant color wheel was constructed and carefully divided in to 43 pieces. Each participant chose a piece of the color wheel and picked from monochromatic containers of fabric. They used glue and a brush to attach small pieces of fabric to their board. Some participants said that this process was very meditative for them. Adults and children alike created miniature pieces of art that helped to make up a cumulative masterpiece.

Since the Old Fashioned Trading Days event, the color wheel has traveled around the county. Its participants have included visitors to the Whitley County Farmers Market in Corbin, community members at an open work day at the Extension Community Art Center, Whitley County Extension employees during a team building activity, and senior citizens at the Adult Education Center in Williamsburg.

When the color wheel is finished it will be framed and hung as a permanent community art piece at the Extension Community Art Center in downtown Williamsburg. The artists who help create this work will be able to enjoy it regularly and use it as a reference to teach others about the color wheel.