White Bear Center for the Arts' mission is to:
ENRICH LIVES by Celebrating Art
NOURISH IMAGINATION by Inspiring Creativity
BUILD UNDERSTANDING by Connecting People
Suzann Beck
Suzann serves as the Minnesota Ambassador for the Portrait Society of America, and teaches portrait painting and drawing classes. Suzann has the unique ability to capture the essence and spirit of a subject and combine it with masterful likeness.
Intrigued and motivated by the depth and craft of masterworks hundreds of years old, Suzann works to understand classical methods and disciplines and leverage them with contemporary practices and sensibilities to create representational realism.
Anne Picard
Anne is a former educator and now author and illustrator of an awarded children’s book called “Peace and Pancakes”: a fable to help children develop their peace skills. She is a poet, author, and watercolor artist who has published numerous books of poems and memoirs.
Writing is a part of her life journey and she enjoys introducing the possibility of encouraging others to create their own memoirs as a wonderful way to give our life story as a gift to family and friends.
Kelsey McGregor
Kelsey is a long-time self-taught embroidery enthusiast and improv instructor with Huge Theater in Minneapolis. Along with infusing her students with the basics of embroidery, her goal is to generate bucketloads of enthusiasm so students may leave each class full of ideas for where to take this traditional and often utilitarian art form.
Kelsey has been a freelance reporter and producer for radio and media, including MPR, This American Life, and The New York Times, and brings her communication talents into the creative classroom to create a space where participants leave with more ideas than they have time to complete!
What Visitors Are Saying:
"WBCA is such a wonderful place to participate in the art scene. You don't have to have any skills, but you are welcomed in and celebrated as an artist. The ability to have all of the resources available as part of the class is invaluable"
“Signing up for classes at WBCA is the best thing I've done for myself in decades. Thank you for providing such a wide range of class formats and a beautiful facility to utilize.”
“I am thrilled WBCA is now a consistent part of my life. Thank you for a great art center that brings creativity into so many lives.”
“It is great to have such a variety of knowledgeable instructors. I especially enjoy classes that show how art can reach so many different areas of our lives. It is always a surprise when I meet the artist within and the discovery me, expressed in multiple mediums.”