Michelle Guerra, of Guilford, encourages everyone she knows to take classes at the Guilford Art Center. She herself is around an awful lot, after deciding to take her first class here three years ago. For Guerra, GAC classes are fun, relaxing and satisfying. They have also provided her with a community of friends and a supportive environment for her creative growth.

Guerra always loved making art; even as a child, she says, she was always drawing and painting. She took art classes in college, then went to law school "and pretty much had the creativity beaten out of me!" she jokes. She married, had two children and continued her career and, in a typical scenario, art became a low-to-nonexistent priority in her life.

Guerra's husband, Cesar, died in 2007, following a long illness. "After Cesar died, I was looking for something for me, something to get me through this transition period." She decided to rekindle her dormant interest in art, and signed up for the Basic Drawing class, with instructor Chris Uminga. "Chris is a wonderful, wonderful teacher. He could teach anyone how to draw!" She particularly lauds his gift of bringing out each individual's talents in the classroom. Since that first class in the Spring of 2007, Guerra has taken at least one class each semester, studying basic drawing and watercolor three times each, as well as sewing, acrylics and figure drawing.

Once she started to take classes again, she rediscovered a big part of herself that she had let go, Guerra says. "And I discovered that I'm not half-bad!" So "not bad," in fact, that Uminga selected one of her paintings, of Two-Face, from the Batman series, to include in the exhibition Identity Theft that was on view in the Guilford Art Center gallery in the summer of 2008. "That was a thrill," says Guerra. "It was a wonderful show. I was so pleased when Chris asked me to submit my work. I felt very honored to be included in that kind of company."

The community she has become a part of at the Center is as important as the experience and fulfillment of creating her art, Guerra says. "I've made really good friends here. That's a big part of it for me. The instructors and students create a very nurturing environment. We all say, it's the best therapy!"

Guerra counsels people to not psyche-themselves-out of learning or taking the time to make art, no matter their age. "I've talked to a lot of people who say 'I can't draw, I have no artistic talent, so I can't take a class.' But the Center is a very accepting place, so you feel like you have the comfort level to not be talented, and then have the chance to develop. I know lots of students who initially didn't think of themselves as artists. They're now making beautiful work.

You'd be amazed at what you can do," Guerra says, "if you give it a try."