In January, Artists Releasing the Kingdom (ARK) announced that it will collaborate with Mulberry Art Studios, 21 N. Mulberry St., Lancaster, on various classes and community events. ARK, a nonprofit community art association, will continue to hold free events and classes at its location at 340 W. King St. in Lancaster, but it will move its paid classes to Mulberry Art Studios.

Since announcing the partnership, ARK has slated several series of classes that it will host at Mulberry Art Studios, such as Introduction to Pastel, Polymer Clay, Personal Makeup Artistry and Visual Journaling. The community art collective has continued to offer free events like writers' groups and movie nights at its main location.

"Our main goal is to help people to understand the purpose that they have creativity for," said Jan Brenneman, who founded ARK in 2021 with his wife, Arnolda. "We've been artists and had a heart for them all of our lives. We want to help people on their journey with art."

Jan grew up in Mountville and began taking painting classes at 9 years old. As a high schooler, Jan took commercial art classes though Lancaster County Career & Technology Center while he was enrolled at Hempfield High School. Jan went on to attend Roberts Wesleyan University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in fine art and met Arnolda.

Jan and Arnolda had three goals in mind when starting ARK: to empower artists with resources to develop their skills, to impact the community in a positive way and to offer family-friendly events through the arts. As a faith-based organization, ARK also ordains those who feel called as ministers in the arts. "We want to totally empower people by teaching them art skills, but also by offering resources for people to develop their life skills. We want to focus on the whole person," said Jan.

ARK hopes to branch out beyond visual art and incorporate elements of music, performing arts and literary arts in its programs. The organization also coordinates field trips for participants. ARK's programs and classes are open to anyone; the organization does have a membership agreement, but there is no cost to sign up.

Jan will begin a series of classes on watercolor painting on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 1:30 p.m. Jan will host two additional sessions on Tuesdays, March 7 and 14, at the same time. To register for classes or to view ARK's calendar of events, search for "The ARK Community Arts Association" on http://www.facebook.com.