Children 3 to 12 years old and their families participated in a free family art program called Snow Days held at the Kimball Visual Arts Building on Feb. 7. Snow Days gave the children the opportunity to participate in hands-on art activities and view the Shaw Art Gallery.

The Shaw Gallery /Familiarte Snow Days program is an annual event that began in 2008. It’s held on the first Saturday of November, December, February and March from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The Snow Days program reaches out to the community and provides activities for children when they can’t play outside due to winter weather.

According to the Outreach Manager Holly Jarvis, the Snow Days program provides members of the Ogden community access to art and art projects at no costs to participants. Snow Days is accessible to anyone, but is especially geared toward families.

“I think it’s a great event because it allows families to participate together,” Jarvis said.

The four themes chosen for the kids to manipulate, explore and wrap their imagination around were Robot Valentines, Valentine’s Mobiles, Barbara Kruger Collodion Postcards and Love Trees. All the themes selected were based on Valentine’s Day and the art showcase called Wet Plate Collodion held at the Project Gallery.

Savanna Smith, 7, created a postcard, mobile and centerpiece decoration. The centerpiece decoration was her favorite item since it allowed her to show off more of her creativity. Savanna, in a soft-toned voice said, “I feel proud and happy.”

Karen Tipton-Smith, Savanna’s mother, has brought Savanna to the Snow Days program before. Timpton-Smith said she feels like this program offers a great opportunity for children to experience art on their level.

“This is very good because, it gives the kids an opportunity to see what real art is about with the access of the museum where they can go in to view art,” Tipton-Smith said. “Having kids be a part of such an event gives them the opportunity to be free with their creativity without boundaries.”

According to Jarvis, the program is fulfilling a need. This is reflected in the feedback from patrons who faithfully return to the event monthly and the increase in numbers last month.

“We had a lot of new guests and new faces so that was a great thing to see,” Jarvis said.

For more information on this event, check out the Department of Visual Arts (DOVA) website at www.weberdovad.org