By SHELBA NIVENS / Community Columnist

The middle of April marked the beginning of several exciting new activities in Chelsea. The formal opening of the Chelsea Historical Museum was Sunday, April 15 in City Hall, in the space previously occupied by the library, while across the parking lot in the new library, the Shelby County Arts Council (SCAC) began a new art exhibit — and announced art classes to be held at the library. Then, at the nearby middle school, Chelsea Community Church (CCC) began holding worship services on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.

CCC’s other two Sunday morning services will continue to be held at the CCC campus, beginning at 9 a.m. and 11:15.

The SCAC began activities in Chelsea several weeks ago and will be offering several new programs through the library, according to SCAC Director Susan Gordon and Chelsea Librarian Dana Polk.

SCAC classes include painting, drawing, watercolors, pottery, jewelry, clay, photography, theater and music. Some of these will be taught in Chelsea. Many are free.

However, the “Expresso Yourself” art program on April 26 will cost $35. Materials will be furnished and participants will finish a picture at this one two-and-a-half hour evening session. Lynn Dodson will be the teacher. “Lynn has taught at the Arts Council for seven years,” said Susan. “She is our most popular teacher.” Call the library or Arts Council if you are interested.

Lynn Dodson’s painting will be showing at the Chelsea library April 16-July, along with photography by Brenda Miller, Broken Beauty mosaics by Andrea Hunter and pottery by Stephanie Dikis.

Stephanie Dikis is also a jewelry creator, who sells her items to friends and family. For many years, she was the featured jewelry vendor for the annual Greek Festival in Birmingham.

According to Dana, an outdoor, “Plein Air Painting,” class will be held 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday May 5. And a free two-session digital photography class for adults will be offered on May 3 and May 10, 5-8:30 p.m. “Participants will need to bring cameras and the camera manuals,” she said.

A one-day black-out photography class for teenagers, middle school up, will be held July 12, Dana said.

Theme for this year’s summer reading program is “Dream Big,” and will begin the second week in June.

For more information or to express your interest in a class, call Chelsea Library at 678-8455, or Shelby County Arts Council at 669-0044.

Shelba Nivens can be reached by email at Shelbasn@juno.com.