Editor’s Note: The Baum School of Art, including its students, administrators and supporters, is adjusting to the time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Second of three parts

With the order for statewide closure of non-essential businesses, The Baum School of Art was required to suspend its Spring Session and cancel its Post Session of classes.

The classroom studios and galleries at 510 Linden St., Allentown, are closed to the public until further notice.

To serve art students already enrolled when the pandemic hit, “Our instructors have been continuing to create online curriculum and content for their students,” says Baum School of Art Marketing and Development Coordinator Lauren Faurl.

“We are hoping to continue on with our Summer Camps as scheduled as long as it is safe to do so, and we are committed to following the health and safety protocols that will guide us in the future,” Faurl says.

In the meantime, the staff and faculty at Baum created another way to interact with students and reconnect with the public.

“We have been rolling out an instructional video series titled, ‘Artist-In-Your-Residence,’ in order to keep our students, as well as the general public connected and creative,” says Faurl.

The lessons, suitable for all ages and skill levels, use simple materials that are generally found around the house.

Among the instruction is “Tonal Gradients,” “Optical Illusion” and “Kandinsky’s Squares with Concentric Circles,” taught by Baum School of Art Program Coordinator Karri Schreppel.

Other online sessions include “Mandala Art” with Mellen Reinbold, “Springtime Cartooning and Card Making Lesson” with Baum School instructor Travis Hill, and “Still Life Lesson Inspired by artist Jan van Kessel the Elder” by Hannah Kottke.

The series on YouTube is accessible from Baum’s website and posted to its social-media channels.

The school partnered with City Center’s Strata Flats, with Schreppel giving art demonstrations for the Sixth and Linden streets apartment complex “Live at Five” video series on Thursdays.

Baum School is moving its scheduled exhibitions to a virtual platform.

Baum’s “Children and Teen Virtual Student Exhibition” can be viewed online.

Scholarship and other award ceremonies are handled as virtual events.

The pandemic has impacted the nonprofit’s fundraising efforts. The Annual Art Auction, scheduled May 16, is postponed until summer as an online event.

COVID-19 emergency fund donations are “gratefully accepted’ by Baum.

The Baum staff has been sewing cotton masks and selling them for $5 each via email at: karri@baumschool.org.

“Together, we will weather this unprecedented emergency, and ensure that when the pandemic is over, The Baum School of Art will be able to continue our 94-year legacy of community arts education,” says Baum School of Art Executive Director Shannon Fugate.

Information: baumschool.org; 610-433-0032

Next week: The Baum School of Art annual art auction going once, going twice, going online.