Creative Learning Center offers more summer courses

Don't you ever wish you could take really good pictures? Or give someone a massage that actually made them feel better? Or figure out what throwing a pot really does mean? Or, for that matter, do you ever wish you could take a class in wine tasting on a university campus? \nInside the monstrous Indiana Memorial Union there is a place where all this can be accomplished. The Creative Learning Center offers a range of non-credit classes during the summer and the academic year for a minimal fee. \nClasses are small, usually limited to about 10 people, allowing the teacher to work individually with each student. \nCreative Learning Center Coordinator Georgianne Marcinkovich commented on the phenomenal instructors that keep the program running year after year. She said these instructors are dedicated and go out of their way to help students learn as much as they can. \n"I enjoy giving people an introduction to my profession," said Julie Lowerhouse, instructor of massage. "Especially with massage, but in all the classes students are given a chance to find out if they are interested in pursuing the topic further."\nJunior Eric Cercone works with the programs at the student activities desk at the IMU.\n"It's a relatively cheap way for people to learn some interesting arts and crafts," Cercone said. \nOpen to students and non-students, most classes run for five-week sessions. In addition to classes and workshops, there are educational trips to Italy held twice a year -- over spring break and during the summer. \nClasses are offered in a range of topics with the majority being arts-oriented. During the summer, classes are offered in drawing, pastels, color and darkroom photography, beginning and intermediate pottery, sculpture, beginning massage, woodcarving and wine tasting. \nIn both the drawing and the pastels classes, students will be taught how light affects objects. Photography classes offer a basic introduction to the art of taking pictures, using a camera creatively and developing film in the darkroom. Pottery classes teach students the basic throwing skills for creating wheel-formed pottery as well as glazing techniques. Because massage is not something easily learned by reading an instruction manual, classes use a hands-on approach to teach students the basics strokes and techniques of giving a massage. The wine-tasting class teaches not only different types of grapes and what kind of wine they produce but also how to buy, serve and taste these wines. \nDuring the fall and spring additional classes are offered entitled Untamed Travel, Graphic Design Fundamentals, Beginning Italian and Jewelry: Shopping for a Diamond. \nDuring the fall, these classes provide an escape from the daily grind of academic work. However, pottery student Carol Touloukin remarked that classes were "more relaxed in the summer and not crowded." Her daughter, Emily, also a pottery student, said she agreed. \n"These classes are a great opportunity to explore the creative side to my personality, something I don't have time to do during the academic year," Emily Touloukin said.\nSecond summer session classes begin the week of July 14. \nFor information about registration, visit the Student Activities Desk located in the IMU or www.imu.indiana.edu/clc/index.html.