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CONNEAUT — The Conneaut Arts Center received a $3,000 grant from the Ohio Arts Council to fund art classes at the Villa at the Lake, a retirement home in Conneaut.

The grant begins in November and lasts eight months.

Arts center Director David Jones said the classes will focus on acrylic painting.

“We are going to change things as they go, month-to-month, with some intro to impressionism or intro to abstract painting, landscapes, things like that,” he said.

Jones said the residents’ location near Lake Erie and in Conneaut will provide them a great inspiration.

“It’s just a great way for them to — like we say all the time — experience the art of living,” he said. “That’s kind of our slogan.”

Jones said the classes will take place monthly.

“We are going to provide the supplies and an art instructor that is going to show up once every month and run a two-hour class with them,” he said. “It’s completely free for them.”

The teaching artist will be Chris Davis, who has taught people of all ages.

“It’s a a very good feeling, how many lives you can touch just by teaching a fairly simple class,” he said.

Davis said he likes to be an encouraging instructor and help his students.

“It doesn’t matter what your skill level is,” he said. “If you have that desire to create, you can do it.”

Davis said he loves hearing from his students later on, such as when they mention they’ve kept art they made.

“Some people, when they don’t know who I am and they walk into class, they don’t take me too seriously at first,” he said. “It’s fun for me to try and win people over who don’t immediately take me too seriously.”

Davis said he has been inspired by many art styles and artists, such as Salvador Dali.

“My first couple exhibits were all portraiture,” he said. “Then I broke into surrealism, dreamy-type art work, where things don’t make sense, but they do.”

Davis said art became central to his identity when he was young.

“When I was in school, I doodled a lot,” he said. “Art class was always my favorite class in school. I would be sitting there doodling on my paper and that actually helped me learn and understand better.”

Davis said he was hired by the arts center to teach out of high school.

“This community — Ashtabula [County] — has been so supportive of me and of the arts,” he said. “We’re so fortunate to have so many arts centers and so many art stores, and so many artists.”

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