August 31, 2010, Portsmouth, NH – Strawbery Banke Museum (www.strawberybanke.org), an organization dedicated to reconnecting individuals with Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s forgotten past, today announced they will host Creative Painting for Children on September 18 and 25, 2010. Offered as part of the Museum’s Painting Portsmouth exhibit, the workshop is a hands-on learn-to-paint program for children of all ages. Just in time for back-to-school, it is designed to provide arts education that may be missing from some schools today.

“Numerous studies have shown that arts education helps students to develop emotional intelligence, social skills and aids in developing memory retention, which carries over into other subject areas,” said Lawrence Yerdon, President of Strawbery Banke Museum. “We want to do our part to provide something that we view as being important for children.”

Creative Painting for Children will take place on September 18 and 25, 2010 from 10 am to noon. The complimentary workshop for kids of all ages will be hosted by Art Education Consultant, Heather Walters, BFA. Walters has painted everywhere from the Pacific to the Atlantic and enjoys grounding people of all ages through creative expression.

The event is part of Painting Portsmouth, a limited-engagement art exhibit at Strawbery Banke Museum’s Roland Gallery that is bringing together twenty-five 19th and 20th century paintings. The collection of works conjure up memories of shoreline summers, impressions of hard working fishermen along the bay, ship workers at the Naval Shipyard, and visions of nature’s elemental force and subtly in the Piscataqua and beyond.

Creative Painting for Children is being offered free of charge to museum visitors thanks to the generous support of Richard Cheek. Space is limited. For more information or to RSVP, call (603) 422-7501.