Walnut Creek's adaptive art classes run into November

Walnut Creek's two adaptive art classes for adults are in their fall quarter, and both run into November.

Ceramics meets Mondays from 10 to 11:30 a.m., Sept. 14 through Nov. 9. Drawing and painting meets Tuesdays from 5 to 6 p.m., Sept. 8 through Nov. 10. Both are for participants 18 and older, and the city says funding from the Regional Center of the East Bay is available for each.

The drawing and painting class has a new instructor this quarter, a professional teaching artist from the Center for Community Arts, and works through a range of drawing and painting materials. Ceramics is hand building — slab, coil and pinch pot — with students using those techniques as the base for their own sculptures.

Both classes sit inside Specialized Recreation, the city program for participants with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program runs social events alongside the classes. Over the summer it held a dinner club at Skipolini's on Aug. 12, where participants made their own pizzas and rode over together from Civic Park Community Center, and a pool party and barbecue at Clarke Memorial Swim Center on Aug. 29.

Still to come is Santa's Quiet Corner, a low-sensory visit with Santa for children and adults with sensory sensitivities, with soft lights and low sound. The city said registration would open later and has not announced a date. The city's notice says the event is offered in Spanish as well.

The funding the city points to comes from the Regional Center of the East Bay, a nonprofit under contract with the California Department of Developmental Services that serves Alameda and Contra Costa counties. A team of RCEB physicians, psychologists and assessment counselors decides who is eligible, so families who are not already clients start with that process rather than with the class.

Registration and the rest of the quarter's classes are listed on the city's recreation pages.