Submitted by the San Juan Islands Museum of Art

The San Juan Islands Museum of Art continues its community outreach with a new series of free workshops geared for children and their family members, open to ages 7 and up. Inspired by the success of the recent summer and winter Family Art Days program, instructor Lana Hickman, who has both a chemistry and an art background, focuses on the connection between science and art in the hands-on projects she has chosen for the series.

“Science gives art a new meaning, and art makes scientific ideas visible,” said Hickman. “Both art and science strive to achieve similar goals: exploration, research, experiment, and discovery. As the world around us increasingly fills with ready-made, mass-produced items, we long for something we can make on our own, something unique. The new program, SOAR, standing for Scientific Opportunities in the Art Realm, gives local children this opportunity.” With projects ranging from sundials to NASA terrariums, from robots to kaleidoscopic art, the workshops will take place Saturdays upstairs at the museum from 10 to noon, starting on March 10 and continuing to May 5 (except for March 24). A postcard with the schedule and take-home project descriptions has been mailed on San Juan. Call 360-370-5050 or 360-472-0168 for more information.