More ideas

While visiting with some Portland area friends this week, we got onto the topic of my grant proposal. Just explaining out loud to someone else gave me some new ideas on how the art center can serve the community.
One idea that deserves further investigation is a summer art camp. We could do several age groups during the week. It would give parents a little time off and give kids something fun to do.
Last summer I introduced my toddler to painting, but being me, I took it a bit further than a coloring book and Crayola watercolors.
I bought two large paintings from a yard sale for a couple bucks. The paintings were horrid, but the canvases are over wood stretchers and measure 2 1/2  feet by 3 1/2 feet. I made a no-sew toddler sized apron out of an old tshirt, pulled out all the tempera paints I had and proceeded to help my toddler make a huge, colorful mess. It was great fun and being summer, most of the clean up could be done with a hose.
We've revisited the same canvas a couple times and now I have a huge, colorful painting hanging on my wall. It makes a great keepsake and is much more durable than paper tacked on the fridge.
So with this in mind, I envision an outdoor painting session, kids come wearing swim gear, a pile of used canvases to choose from and a kiddie pool standing by for clean up. It's outdoor summer fun and art at the same time. The finished paintings make great gifts to their parents and other relatives too.