2025 Northeast Regional Art Retreat

Three 4-H members from Lycoming County participated in the Northeast Regional Art Retreat. This event was open to 4-H members ages 8 to 18 years old from 19 counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Northeast Regional Art Retreat took place on January 18, 2025, at the Montour County Extension Office in Danville, Pennsylvania.

Throughout the day, twenty-two 4-H members attended various expressive arts workshops. The workshops consisted of sewing, theater, fine arts, and crafts. These workshops were on a rotational basis, so members could try everything. Sewing and fine arts were held in the morning, and theater and crafts were held in the afternoon.

In the sewing workshop, members learned basic sewing techniques like sewing a straight line, threading the machine, and what to do if your machine becomes unthreaded. Teaching basics were very important for the group because most participants had never sewn before. The goal was to complete a finished tote bag. The bags were the hardest and most rewarding part of the day, but by the end of the day, every participant had a finished bag.

The second morning workshop was fine arts. In this workshop, members learned the proper techniques to complete a night scenery painting. The participants got to learn about shading with the paint to make the background and moon for the paintings. Then they learned how to create the pine trees.

In the afternoon, the craft workshop provided members with two craft projects. By using socks, felt, and rice, members created sock hedgehogs. The second project members got to paint a block of wood and sanded it down to make it look worn or antique. They then used fabric to make birds and added a button eye to their wooden block to make a unique decoration.

The last workshop was theater. In this workshop, the 4-Her's got to be creative by picking a fairy tale to perform. The participants made costumes for the performance out of wrapping paper and other items provided. Once they worked out their costumes and characters, they performed their fairy tale skit.

Participants from Lycoming County included Addison Cundiff (On the Fence), Landon Cundiff (On the Fence), and Ella Reicks (On the Fence).