Dunedin Fine Arts Cultural Center Inc

Youth Education: Besides educational outreach programs for local charter/private schools and organizations like the Safety Harbor Montessori and Academie DaVinci, the children and teen program follows the same schedule as the adult program, except for June to August, when a 10-week intensive summer enrichment art academy program for children ages: 4.5 to 14 is held. During the summer program, 7 different weekly camps focus on photography, clay (hand building and wheel),3D, 2D (drawing and painting), iPad Explorations, murals and musical theater are offered to age-appropriate groupings in weeklong sessions. DFAC has up to 180 children per week and employs certified art teachers along with professional, degreed working artists from the Tampa Bay area. At the close of summer, a Summer Art Academy Exhibit is held in our Kokolakis Family Youth Gallery curated by the children, for the children. Close to 50 different schools are represented in our summer camp exhibit. DFAC's Youth Education Department also hosts our annual "Kidsfest" in conjunction with the Summer Camp Exhibit opening. This event brings 300-500 visitors each year and is joined by the Kiwanis Club of Dunedin to provide Hotdogs, chips and drinks at no cost. Dedicated Youth Gallery: Kokolakis Family Youth Gallery is used exclusively for children's artwork from 4.5 yrs. to 17 yrs. DFAC partners with the Pinellas County School District's Visual Arts Supervisor to provide 4 exhibits yearly featuring 75 Elementary, 19 Middle and 13 High Schools. DFAC also Partners with the City of Dunedin and the Dunedin Principals' Consortium to provide the Dunedin Schools' Showcase exhibit featuring the youth's artwork created in Dunedin. These are wonderful events to attend for the excitement and pride radiating from the children and their families. Dedicated Youth Clay Lab: DFAC has 12 wheels/and a hand building studio which can be used exclusively by children, while 12 additional wheels are used by the adults in the adjoining clay labs. David L. Mason Children's Hands-on Art Museum (DLM Museum): A big part of our Youth Education Program is the Children's Hands-on Art Museum. It gives children the opportunity to explore the different media used in art from pastels to electronic graphics and Green Screen. The DLM Museum is designed by DFAC's Director of Youth Education and presents a new theme annually. The current children's hands-on exhibit is titled Artsy Adventures. This interactive experience combines a multitude of interactive experiences. Use your imagination while interacting with activities such as laser crayons, fishing down the Florida Springs, writing campfire stories in the campsite area, Exploring the underwater world, and much more. Free Family Fun Nights and Make & Take Weekends are also offered October-May for families to enjoy extended hours in our DLM Museum along with an art activity. School Tours: DFAC's two-hour tour consists of three components: 1) Students start with a 30-45-minute engaging gallery discussion involving science, history, social influence and impact, principles and elements of design, creative problem solving and humor. 2) Students proceed to the hands-on interactive area where they explore, create, and build on concepts and images from the original artworks seen in the galleries. Time in the hands-on area is 30-45 minutes. 3) Tour concludes with students gathering in the art studio for a teacher directed, exhibit related activity involving imagination and motor skills. Also, due to grant funding provided by the Pinellas Community Foundation, the free student tours and bus reimbursement program has been implemented to provide a further reach to our Pinellas County students and schools.

Exhibits: The Dunedin Fine Art Center (DFAC) has museum quality exhibitions which are organized by our Curatorial Director and Curatorial Assistant. Exhibits change every 8 weeks, on average. In a given year, the public can enjoy 20 different exhibits in 6 distinct galleries plus 7 exhibits in our dedicated Children's Gallery. Our Curatorial Team establishes the exhibition calendar two years in advance selecting from a range of individual artist proposals, traveling exhibits, guest curator concepts plus other organizational and regional proposals. With educational values at the core of the Dunedin Fine Art Center's mission, it has been our goal, at any given time, that a visitor may view works by our faculty and students alongside exhibits of artists of national and international standing. In addition to numerous themed juried exhibitions for community participation, we have a Student / Member / Faculty exhibit that ensures every work of art submitted is shown and celebrated. It is ideal that we have been able to simultaneously stage shows of broader significance in the contemporary art world while maintaining a commitment to our students, members and their families. That commitment along with the talent of our curatorial staff led DFAC to be named best museum in Pinellas County in 2014 in a Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater poll-though we are not a museum nor maintain a permanent collection! In addition to various Critic's Awards, DFAC has received Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's Best of the Bay People's Choice Award for Best Non-Museum Gallery for seven consecutive years: 2016 - 2024 plus Best Visual Arts Curator for 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.Exhibits are a primary component of DFAC's educational and cultural outreach to our community, greater Tampa Bay and visitors to our state who attend lectures and demonstrations by visiting / exhibiting artists in collaboration with our year-round classes and workshops. DFAC's Member/Students are enhanced by daily exposure to a diverse range of contemporary art techniques and media. In addition, throughout the school year, School Tours for children of all ages enjoy: Gallery Talks led by our Youth Education Director, interactive play in our Hands-On Museum and a classroom take-home project conducted by our Youth Education Staff.

Memberships and donations subsidize all programs provided by DFAC and are not included in these program revenues.