Guild Hall Keeps Kids Entertained and Enriched

Guild Hall’s Student Art Festival 2021: Past-Present-Future opened January 16 and runs through February 21, 2021, as a celebration of both Guild Hall’s 90th Anniversary, and the centennial of the Village of East Hampton. “This year’s festival looks to both our shared past and an imagined future,” said Guild Hall in a statement. “Through the practice of art and design, ranging from imagery of natural growth and metamorphosis to Futurism and Science Fiction, students across the East End will collectively produce an exhibit that reflects our past, acknowledges and celebrates our present, and imagines a changed and hopeful future.”

As part of the festival, Guild Hall is offering interactive programs for kids through February. This week, starting on January 21, Guild Hall and Brooklyn-based Loot Comics will host a virtual “Create Your Own Comic Book” workshop. Loot Comics is an innovative educational group inspired by bitcoin. At Loot Comics, kids earn loot by reading and reviewing comics, making their own comics and helping others. The workshop is taught by Joseph Mann.

Also for three weeks on Mondays, beginning January 25, Guild Hall will present a family hour, Stories and Crafts with the East Hampton Library, for ages 3 and up. At each session, “Ms. Anna” Healy of the Library will read a children’s book, followed by a related hands-on craft project. The sessions will be held on Zoom, with take-home art supplies available to participants for pick up at Guild Hall the weekend prior to each session.

The themes explored in the Student Art Festival are echoed in this series, bridging the questions and themes students explored in their classrooms and exhibit at Guild Hall to their homes and families.

Anna Healy is new to the East End. She has taught art classes for children and adults at the East Hampton Library, Golden Eagle and Guild Hall. Prior to bringing art and stories to families in East Hampton, Anna taught in schools, libraries and cultural institutions in both Oklahoma and the greater Chicago area.

The one-hour classes are free and take place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on January 25, February 1, and February 8. Pre-registration is required.

Register and more at guildhall.org.