OWENSVILLE — The aptly named 1st Friday art class has been a place for children to learn and practice art in Owensville for over two years now. The classes are held at the volunteer-run nonprofit Art Works on Main community gallery on the first Friday of each month, and they just received a small grant for art supplies from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

The lessons are free to attend and are led by retired art teacher Cheri Riley and her husband William. They work with children of all ages, and each class has some type of short history lesson to provide the context for that month’s medium. Last Friday, the exercise was painting on rocks, so the class talked about ancient cave paintings.

There are usually 10-20 children in attendance. Since the class takes place during the day at 12:30 p.m. on Fridays, at least until the summer, the majority of students in attendance are home schooled. There were 11 kids there on the first Friday in November.

Tosha Reiter was there with her two boys, their grandparents and their cousin, who was visiting. It didn’t take long for the three kids to find themselves engrossed in painting their small rocks. It was her third time bringing the boys to the 1st Fridays class.

“I was so thrilled, this gives them a different feel,” Reiter said. “And I think it gives the kids a lot of confidence to see their work on the wall.” A large part of the back wall of the gallery is filled with work done by kids attending the class.

Thanks to an extra $750 for supplies from a recent grant, the Riley’s will be able to buy more supplies for the classes. They are also experimenting with an art class run by parents in the Art Works on Main gallery on the third Friday of each month. Anyone interested in bringing children to the classes, or in making a donation, can reach out to Cheri at the studio.