MERIDIAN — At last! The daffodils have sprung up, Japanese magnolias and camellias are in full bloom – enough time to dazzle before that late frost we usually get in our area.

    It’s a great time to consider taking a painting class!  

    You know there are some people in Meridian who have never visited our Meridian Museum of Art, which sits on the same block as city hall. It is open Wednesday thru Saturday.

    If you belong to the museum, the Artists Group meets one Saturday each month with a demonstration of a particular art technique. The show on display now is by Paul Jackson, a world-renowned traveler and watercolor artist from the Starkville area. His work is very photo-realistic, yet painted with watercolors which are very hard to control.

    Talk about the connectivity of Facebook, that is how MMA Director Kate Cherry met Mr. Jackson, asking him for a showing at our museum. And, he graciously agreed.

    Mr. Jackson is also conducting three days of a watercolor workshop, March 22, 23 and 24 for only $100 each day. Contact Meridian Museum of Art  (601-693-1501  to register.

    Last weekend, at the Center the Artist’s Palette Club invited Linda Martin of Columbia to teach a rouging class and their president, Pat Dean, taught a painting class at her studio. She will be leading another painting class on March 9 at the center.

    This is a small group of "many colors." The past few years they have introduced several nationally known artists to Meridian for seminars. This spring, they are bringing a portrait artist from California – Mary Carole, who has studied under Everett Raymond Kinstler, a Presidential portrait painter. Look up both artists online to see samples of their work.

    Ms. Carole will be in Meridian from April 24-27th. The fee for this four-day seminar on portraiture is $80 a day. For more information about Mary Carole's seminar, contact Pat Dean at (601) 774-8354 or email at jpdean@att.net

    Besides the center’s usual eight-week painting class, we also offer:     • Decorative Painting with Joyce Luke, Monday afternoons and evenings.

    • Colored pencil drawing techniques with Don Shaffer, Monday nights and Wednesday afternoons.

    • Benny Harrison’s floral arranging, Monday nights and Wednesday afternoons.

    • Pine needle basket weaving, Thursday mornings.

    • Cake decorating, Tuesday mornings.

    • Stained Glass, Monday nights and Tuesday afternoons.

    We are registering for our eight-week spring classes now. Classes begin March 18 and end May 10.



Other MAC activities

and events



    Don’t worry if you missed the diabetes seminar presented by Lisa and Willie Ann of Medicare’s Information & Quality Healthcare (IQH). They will present another program beginning Feb. 26. Call (601) 672-1067 to sign up with Lisa.

    Meridian Activity Center is hosting a 55 Alive Driver Safety Program with instructor Bob Glazar on March 14, from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.. This program is sponsored by AARP; complete the course and let your insurance agent know. Many agencies offer a discount on automotive insurance. Phone (601) 485-1812, leave your name and phone number to get in the class; size is limited.

    Start putting your garage sale items aside, in a box, or go on and put them in the trunk of your car in preparation for our Bi-annual Trunk Sale, which is held in the front parking lot of the center. For a fee of $10, sellers park their car, pop their trunk and sell items right from their car. We are looking at March 23. If it rains, we’ll move to an April weekend.

    Don’t forget! ZUMBA Latin dance exercise has come to the center. And is it ever a lot of fun and fast moves to get your heart rate up. Alba and Freda will be here Tuesday evenings, from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., and Thursday afternoons, from 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. By fee.

    We also are moving every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.,with the hip-hop sounds in our Slimnastics class taught by Brenda Golisch.

    Meridian Activity Center s located at 3300 32nd Ave., off 29th Avenue and 36th Street. Look for our small street signs and then, as you turn onto 32nd Avenue you will see our arched sign at the end of the street as you enter the compound. Call for details. (601) 485-1812.



    • Barbara Wells is director of Meridian Activity Center. You may e-mail her at mactivitycenter@gmail.com