BY KAREN BOSSICK

Art, Drink and Be Merry! during the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ Free Family Day today.

Then be prepared to mark up your calendar for a whole slew of other art activities for children.

The Center will hold stage a variety of free activities between 3 and 5 p.m. today—Jan. 12—at The Center in Ketchum.

Families may work together to create a memory box to take home. There’ll also be games and activities pertaining to art. And there’ll be free cocoa in honor of the current exhibition “At the Table: Kitchen as Home,” which explores how the kitchen defines some of our strongest family memories.

Then get ready for Apres Art! and Look, Play and Create.

The two free programs will give kids and their caregivers additional opportunities to enjoy art-making together.

“We want to reinforce that The Center is a wonderful resource for exploration, learning and fun for families throughout the year,” said Susie Quinn Fortner, The Center’s visual art education program coordinator.

Apres Art! is designed for youngsters who are 5 through 12 years of age. It will be offered from 3 to 5 p.m. Fridays between Jan. 18 and March 22.

Youngsters and their adult caregivers can drop in any time to warm up with a mug of coca after a day on the slopes and make a winter art project to take home. The schedule:

• Jan. 18 – Snowflake Printmaking
• Jan. 25 – Snowman Drawing: Experimenting with Shading
• Feb. 1 – Watercolor Winterscape
• Feb. 8 – Painted Monochromatic Hearts
• Feb. 15 – Mixed Media Silhouette: Memories of a Snowy Night
• Feb. 22 – Cup of Creativity: Exploring Line, Color and Shape with Tempera Paint
• March 1 – Oil Pastel Snowflakes
• March 8 – Mixed Media Collage: Looking Out My Winter Window
• March 15 – Mitten Drawing
• March 22 – Snowy Skies

Look, Play and Create introduces youngsters ages 1 through 5 to art through a series of “looking” activities and age-appropriate “messy fun” art projects in a museum setting.

These classes will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. the second Thursday of each month starting in mid-February.

“By bringing young people to The Center, we hope to create a pattern of lifelong learning and appreciation for the arts,” said Katelyn Foley, director of education and humanities.

Themes for Look, Play ad Create are:

• Feb. 14 – Water Color Valentines
• March 14 – Salt Painting
• April 11 – Collage
• May 9 – Sponge Painting
• June 13 – Mural Painting
• July 11 – Patriotic Painting
• Aug. 8 – Print Making and Stamping
• Sept. 12 – Fall Trees

For more information, call 208-726-9491 or visit www.sunvalleycenter.org.