ARtsTEach is an arts-education workshop program presented by ARTS San Antonio and provides a broad range of participatory arts activities to students with limited access to artistic resources and encouragement to develop their artistic skills.

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center will host 2 ARtsTEach workshops on May 28th.  These workshops are free thanks to funding provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts.  Registration is required and space is limited.

May 28: 11am – 12pm and 12:30-1:30pm

 Artist: Lenora McQueen

Workshop: “Rainsticks from Recycled Items” 

Make music from recycled materials and learn about the history and traditional uses of rain sticks. The rain stick has been used historically in rituals to summon rain in dry climates. Traditional rain sticks are musical instruments – they are a type of rattle usually made from dried plant stalks which have been hollowed out such as cactus or bamboo and filled with pebbles or seeds. When the instrument is tipped a sound is produce which sounds like falling rain. The origins of the rain stick are unclear though it is known to have been used by natives in Panama, Ecuador, the Amazon, and Northern Mexico. In this one-hour workshop children will make their own rain sticks from recycled and other materials. Once complete they will tip their rain sticks and listen to the cascading, soothing, pitter-patter of falling rain.