Whether you’re seeking to stave off winter boredom or looking to make good on a New Year’s resolution, there are plenty of local options for tapping into your creative and health-minded side.

In Murphy, the Community Center has Fall and Spring offerings that include classes for youth and adults. Drama Kids is offered for Kindergarten through 5th grade students while Drama Kids Acting Academy is for those 11-15 years old. Adults can get fit by signing up for Tai Chi, Yoga or Jazzercise classes – all for a relatively small monthly fee.

At the Creative Arts Guild of Wylie, artists of all ages and experience levels can learn about different mediums. In January, students can take process art, drawing media or “master the art masters.” Besides art classes, other ways to get involved with the Guild are through exhibitions and special performances.

Their website states that “children, young people, adults and seniors can meet to engage with groups of people who have similar interests — photography, painting, ceramics, creative writing, filmmaking, drama, music [and] crafts.”

Painting with a Twist in Wylie is more aimed at adults, although it has plenty of child-centered activities a few times a month in the afternoon. Most evenings of the week, anyone over the age of 18 can sign up for a guided painting class. But what makes these sessions unique is the “BYOB” policy. As long as they are 21, painters can sip wine or beer as they work on their masterpiece. Pinot’s Palette provides the glasses.

AR Workshop near President George Bush Turnpike in Garland has more crafty options. Classes in wood, canvas, metal and yarn are available, and completed projects are for sale via the workshop’s website.

If music is more your speed, there are just as many options. One of them is Studio Barnes, a Sachse company offering private piano, voice, trumpet, woodwind and string instrument lessons. Lessons can be either 30 or 60 minutes.

Wylie’s Ballard Street Music School is enrolling students for 11 types of classes, ranging from popular instruments like guitar to less-known ones like the mandolin. Half-hour, 45-minute or hour-long lessons are available.

Taylor Robinson Music Company, also called TR Music, offers guitar, piano, voice, drums, bass and songwriting. Lessons can be given at the student’s home, in TR Music’s studio or via webcam.

Plenty of dance studios are also in the area. These include KC’s Dance and Cheer Center in Sachse, Red Door Academy in Wylie, Dance Company of Wylie, Wylie Elite Allstar Cheerleading, XD2 Dance in Garland and Amotion Dance in Plano.

Of course, dancing isn’t the only way to perform on a stage. Aspiring actors and actresses also have plenty of options.

Wylie Acting Group is more aimed at children, but adults can also get involved. Shows occasionally have parts that require grown-ups, and workers behind the scenes are also needed.

To audition, children must bring a 4×6 photo of themselves along with a resume of their theatrical experience. They will be required to perform a one-minute monologue that they chose and memorized themselves.

Garland is home to Breitling Performing Arts, aimed at everyone ages 3 to 23. Although the emphasis is on theatre, the center also offers dance, voice, guitar, piano, ukulele, violin, painting and makeup classes.

In fall 2019, Breitling started offering adult acting classes. Sign-ups for a spring course will be announced soon.

Children and adults alike have plenty of artsy options at the Wylie Rec Center as well. A few of the spring courses include Astonishing Animation, ballet and tap, floral design, card making, Comic Creator, Cooking Craze, quilting, sewing and wreath making.

In Plano, Collin College offers arts, design, dance, languages, photography, music and theatre, along with more STEM-focused classes, as part of its continuing education program for adults not seeking a degree.

For more stories like this, see the Jan. 9 issue or subscribe online.

By Morgan Howard • [email protected]