The “Artland of Georgia” is now home to yet another outlet for art appreciation and education – this one geared primarily toward children.

Art School, located at 8 School Street, opened recently, but founder Tracy Jefferies has been part of the county’s art scene for years. 

Jefferies was also the co-founder of Town Center Fine Art, a gallery located in downtown Watkinsville. The space, however, did not lend itself to teaching, which was something Jefferies hoped to move toward. 

“We decided to pivot from what we had been doing,” she said.

She made the move about a block away, to a space she used to be able to see from her second floor gallery windows.

While artwork hangs on the walls of Art School, the primary focus is to teach young people to make, but more importantly, to appreciate artwork.

The first step, said Jefferies, is helping people unfamiliar with art to get over the intimidation and “empowering people to be secure in going to galleries.”

Art School plans to start an after school program once school is back in session, but will focus on an art and music camp during the summer months. 

Jefferies will be joined by Vicky Tavernier, music teacher at Athens Montessori School and owner of Sweet Retreat in Town Center, who will teach the music portion of the camp. 

The camp will offer week-long sessions for children ages 5 to 13. 

Classes will be limited to about 20 students each, and will include both music and art activities throughout the week. 

Six sessions will take place throughout the summer, each focusing on activities and themes for different age groups. June 1-5 and June 8-12 will be for ages 7-10; June 15-19, June 22-26 and July 6-10 will be for ages 10-13; and July 13-17 will be for ages 5-7.

The cost for each session, which is one week long, is $130 per child, which includes a 9 a.m. to noon class, snack and all necessary art supplies. 

Topics will range from POP! Art, which explores toys and cartoons used in creating art; face mapping, which teaches children how to draw and paint people, and topics such as perspective and depth in artwork. 

Music activities will include learning basic chords, basic finger position on the piano, singing, dancing and Stomp – a percussion-based form of music using household items.

In addition to learning how to produce their own work, campers will learn about artists who make the same type of art that they are working on.

“I want to get them to tell me what they see,” said Jefferies, who hopes to teach them about art history, aesthetics and criticism.

Students do not need to have prior experience in either art or music to participate in the camp.

Jefferies has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Georgia, as well as an Art Educator’s certificate. She has taught at the Georgia Museum of Art and traveled throughout the state with the museum’s outreach program.

She also lived and worked in New York City, where she worked as a private tour guide for museum-goers. That, she said, is where she learned that the first step to teaching art appreciation is to address the intimidation factor people often feel when experiencing art. 

After the summer camp is finished, Jefferies plans to begin an after school program, as well as adult art education classes. 

She hopes to incorporate video editing courses into her offerings, and is open to all sorts of new types of art, however, she said she likely won’t include clay and ceramics because “there are already so many fabulous facilities all around us that do it.”

To register for summer camp, or for more information about Art School, please call (706)255-3411or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . More information is also available on Art School’s Web site, artschoolwatkinsville.com.

Anna Dolianitis is a reporter for The Oconee Leader. She can be reached at 706-310-1104 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

---