Art school hosts grand opening party

Nicholas Oberling and Jennifer Li are having a grand opening party for their new Kalispell art school May 3.

The celebration for Glacier Art Academy will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Oberling and Li are professional artists with national reputations who have become well-known in the Montana art world since they moved to Kalispell in 1998. Their experience includes a combined 21 years of professional studio art training in the academic ateliers of the famous Art Students League of New York.

Their Glacier Art Academy will provide classically oriented art instruction of a caliber that is seldom offered outside of large urban areas.

Classes for adults and teens will include beginning to advanced painting in oils, figure and portrait painting, landscape painting, plein air painting and drawing from life. Subjects will include drawing and painting technique and materials, composition and dynamic symmetry, perspective and artistic anatomy, understanding value gradations and color.

Classes for children will be fun and instructive. All children’s art supplies will be provided, and there will be a discount for siblings.

Classes at the Glacier Art Academy are ongoing; one can sign up at any time, and the remaining session will be prorated.

After-school art classes are being offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. through the end of the school year. Classes for adults and teens will meet weekends.

Glacier Art Academy is at 29 Third St. E. in the southwest corner of downtown Kalispell’s historic KM Building. The large, loft-like space has high ceilings, natural light and an enclosed outdoor patio. Many people may recognize it as the former Bulldog Saloon, now transformed with vintage plaster casts, floral still-life scenes and a human skeleton.

Call Li or Oberling for more information at 257-3801 or visit www.glacierartacademy.com.