Youth Services

The Josephy Center (JCAC) offers youth art classes and programs on site and at various locations around the county, including schools. Classes and programs include:

Youth Art Fridays

JCAC offers a variety of youth art classes on Fridays and Saturdays including painting, drawing, multi-media and clay.  Classes are designed to accommodate a wide range of ages and interests.

Youth After School Program

A partnership with Building Healthy Families (BHF) this program offers after-school programming (Monday through Thursday) for youth in grades K-4th.  This free class serves schools located in Enterprise, Joseph and Wallowa and is very competitive to attend.

Alternative Education Art Program

JCAC collaborates with Building Healthy Families to provide alternative education classes for at-risk high school students. Each week students spend 1 or 2 partial days taking art classes from Josephy Center’s art teachers. Individual attention and creative freedom helps students build the confidence needed to progress in school.

Youth Summer Camps

JCAC offers 2, week-long summer camps for ages 5-14.  Camp themes have included “Far Away Places”, “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Under the Sea”.  Activities include clay, drawing, painting, drama and walks to the park for a free lunch (provided by Building Healthy Families.)

Field Trips

Josephy Center offers local teachers the opportunity for class field trips which can include viewing an exhibit, listening to lectures, taking an art class or participating in “Brown Bag” discussions on relevant topics. On occasion, JCAC will host field trips for students from outside of Wallowa County.

Art Bags

JCAC offers free “art bags” for all ages. Bags include art supplies and instructions for a variety of take-home art projects including painting, scratch art, collage, engineering, coloring, drawing, painting and more. Art bags can be picked up from our vestibule or the “Little Library” located outside.

Charter Art Program (“CAP” Classes)

Each fall, the Joseph Charter School sends 15-20 students to JCAC to take special art classes as part of an art education program. Students participate in various types of art including ceramics, printmaking and calligraphy.

In 2021,  Joseph Charter School will be using its CAP program--which has brought students here for art experiences--to expose all 7-12 graders to Nez Perce history and culture. The school asked Angela Bombaci at the Wallowa Homeland, Shannon McNerney at Fishtrap, and Rich Wandschneider at Josephy to help put together the program. Each class will rotate through six "stations," meeting on Tuesdays of each week We will have one class each week for two hours in our upstairs space where Rich will introduce Nez Perce history and culture. We'll gather around the exhibit, but talk also about the native sculpture outside. The students will also go to the Homeland grounds with dance arbor and longhouse, and will have virtual classes from Fishtrap and Beth Piatote on language and writing; David Weaver on the Nez Perce Trail, and a program on foods that the Homeland Project is arranging. AND--Bobbie Conner will do an all-class assembly at the beginning of it all to talk about Indians here today with fisheries, land purchases, etc, and why we should use the term "Indian."