Summer 2025

In conjunction with the 2025 Summer Reading Challenge, Fort Bend County Libraries will present a series of free, hands-on art workshops exploring a variety of artistic styles and art movements from different time periods this summer.

Fort Bend County Libraries recognizes the educational, social, and mental-health benefits of art and play for all ages and offers a variety of opportunities throughout the library system for individuals to express their creativity through arts or crafts. Check FBCL’s online calendar for activities, events, and opportunities throughout the system!

Presented by volunteers with Unite & Inspire, the teen series -- “Color Our World: Journey Through Global Art Forms” – will take place at multiple locations in the Fort Bend County library system this summer for teens entering grades 9-12.

Teens will explore the timeless creativity that can be found within various styles of art from different periods, including Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Pop Art. Participants will learn about the history of the art styles before having an opportunity to paint their own masterpieces to take home. Those attending the workshops are encouraged to wear clothes that would not be ruined by paint splatter.

Materials – including canvas, acrylic paint, and brushes – will be provided courtesy of the Friends of the Library organizations that support these libraries. Because materials are limited, registration is required for each workshop.

Impressionism is an art movement that became popular in the 1870s and 1880s. Artists of the period – including Monet, Renoir, and Degas – become known for capturing light and color in contemporary scenes by using short brush strokes, realistic colors, and lifelike depictions of the subject.

In the Impressionism workshops, teens will study Monet’s “Japanese Bridge Over a Pond” from 1899. The Impressionism workshops will take place at the following locations from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm:

• May 31 – *University Branch Library (Sugar Land) Click here to register.
• June 21 – Sienna Branch Library (Missouri City) Click here to register.
• July 12 – George Memorial Library (Richmond) Click here to register.

Post-Impressionism is an art movement that emerged in France in the late 1880s. An extension of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism rejected the limitations of the earlier art movement, choosing to include more vivid colors, symbolic content, formal order, and structure. Artists of this movement included Cézanne, Gaugin, and Van Gogh.

In the Post-Impressionism workshops, teens will study Van Gogh’s “Vase with Irises Against a Yellow Background” from 1890. The Post-Impressionism workshops will take place at the following locations from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm:

• June 7 – *University Branch Library (Sugar Land) Click here to register.
• June 28 – Cinco Ranch Branch Library (Katy) Click here to register.

Pop Art was an art movement that began in the 1950s and 1960s. A rebellion against elitist art, Pop Art was one of the first art movements to blur the divide between commercial and fine arts, finding inspiration from popular culture.

In the Pop Art workshops, teens will study Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans” from 1962. The Pop Art workshops will take place at the following locations from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm:

• June 14 – George Memorial Library (Richmond) Click here to register.
• July 19 – Sienna Branch Library (Missouri City) Click here to register.
• July 26 – Cinco Ranch Branch Library (Katy) Click here to register.

*PARKING INSTRUCTIONS for UNIVERSITY BRANCH LIBRARY: Park inside the gated lot (VISITOR LOT 4).  Bring the parking-ticket stub to the check-out desk inside the library to be validated by library staff. Parking is FREE if the ticket is validated by the library. Parking outside the gated lot may result in a parking violation from the University of Houston.