North Hills Art Center emerges from covid shutdown with full schedule of fall classes, events

Despite restrictions placed on social gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic, officials at the North Hills Art Center have been working to ensure that people who live the arts still have a way to add some color to their lives.

“Like everybody else, we were mandated by the governor to shut down, so we lost our spring session entirely as well as events and shows we had to cancel,” said Kim Freithaler, the center’s executive director. “But as soon as we were allowed to open, we put a summer program together for kids and adults that were very successful.”

To conduct the in-person classes, the center is limiting the number of people who can sign up for classes . The center also has adopted strict social distancing and mask requirements and regularly sanitizes the facility on Babcock Boulevard.

Shows featuring animal art and one dubbed “covid creativity” were conducted online, which drew a larger audience than some of its live events, Freithaler said.

“They were well received, so I think the virtual shows are here to stay,” she said. “The art also will be displayed in the gallery for those who want to view it in person, so we are calling it ‘seeing double’,” she said.

Freithaler said the center even helped some people satisfy their art fix during the shutdown by creating packages for clay projects that could be picked up, worked on at home, and then returned to the studio to be fired.

“For many years we’ve recognized the healing power of art,” she said. “And it’s even more necessary now because of the isolation and lack of a schedule that many people are experiencing. The arts can play a huge role settling the mind by providing opportunities for people to produce something that is theirs and totally unique.”

The art center was able to overcome the loss in revenue from the cancelled classes and shows by obtaining an emergency federal loan as well as a grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation.

“It’s important for us to do what we can to resume classes because the artists who teach them are all freelance and rely on that income,” she said. “If there are no classes, they don’t get paid, so we have been trying to make sure we can provide a venue for them to offer their services.”

The fall program includes dozens of adult and children’s classes and workshops for painting, pottery, drawing and other media.

The online registration page for classes also includes the safety protocols that must be followed by staff and visitors to the art center.

The first of the events on tap — the 2020 Members’ Show — kicks off Sept. 14 with a virtual opening as well as in-person viewing, which runs through Oct. 9.