Freshmen won’t be the youngest students spotted at the University of Southern Maine this fall. About 30 talented fourth- and fifth-graders from Westbrook, Cumberland, Gorham, Windham, Buxton, and Standish will receive art instruction from college students in USM’s Practicum in Art Education.

Through various art forms, the young artists will explore their creative abilities while instructed by 16 USM art education students. These Saturday art workshops will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Oct. 15, 22, 29, and Nov. 5 in the Art Drawing Classroom Building (behind Upton-Hastings Hall) located on the Gorham campus.

The children are invited to attend free of charge by their teachers, but the lessons and workshops are run by the USM students with help from USM Associate Professor of Art Trudy Wilson in USM’s College of Arts and Sciences as part of the teacher certification process for Art Education majors. This year’s workshop theme is “Me, My Family, and Maine,” focusing on drawing people.

An exhibit of all the work created during the workshops will be held Saturday, Nov. 5. An informal reception for the young artists, parents, families, and all art education students will begin at 11:15 a.m.