Before Pam Lockwood, director of the Utah High School for the ARTS, became a music teacher, theatre director and actress, she was a visual artist living in California.

One day her car broke down and she didn’t have the mondy to fix it, let alone buy a new one and she didn’t know what to do.

“The police helped me and got me home in time to meet who was going to commission me for a painting,” Lockwood said during an interview with The Park Record. “They walked in and saw a painting of a Portuguese woman standing in a field that I had just finished and framed and said they wanted it.”

Lockwood had no intention on selling the piece, but since she was out of a car, she agreed.

“They gave me a few thousand dollars for it and I went and bought a car the next day,” she said.

Art can benefit people in many different ways, she said. That’s why Prospector ARTS, which includes the Utah High School for the ARTS and The Film School, is offering winter and spring art classes and workshops to the public.

“Students learn discipline and problem solving,” Lockwood said. “Also, our visual arts students can look at a piece of scenery or a film and know if it’s quality or not. Our Prospector ARTS productions would not look as good as they do if it wasn’t for art classes.”

art classes, Lockwood means on-going private lessons in voice, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, trumpet, music fundamentals and theory as well as acting for film and stage, drawing and oil painting.

“We have a strong music program and some pretty good teachers, so we do have quite a bit to offer in that area for people who want to learn new instruments,” she said. “We teach the basics and have a fundamentals and theory class for people who really want to get inside what music is all about.”

The teachers include Lockwood, Eric Blood and Josh Francis.

Blood teaches bass and guitar and Francis teaches trumpet and keyboards.

“They’ll both teach the music theory and fundamentals classes,” Lockwood said. “They are simply two of the best musicians in Utah.”

Lockwood will teach voice, acting and the visual arts classes.

“All of my life, I’ve been in the arts and for a while I stopped my painting because I got into music,” she said. “I went back to college and met a music teacher who changed my life and turned me into a musician and a music teacher. From there, I got thrown into theatre and became a director.”

The acting workshops are designed for people who are very interested in stage and film.

“One of the important things that people need to understand about acting is learning the craft,” Lockwood explained. “There is a lot of talent in Utah, but many of the people don’t know the craft of mastering their bodies or the differences about how to present themselves in front of a camera or on stage.”

The workshops need a minimum of five participants and anyone who wants to be a part of the workshops or the music theory and fundamental sessions, should contact Lockwood by email at [email protected].

“Once we get enough people signed up, I’ll contact them and set up the time and date for the sessions,” she said.

The workshops range from $75 to $150 and the price includes materials and training, Lockwood said. The private lessons, which usually run for 30 minutes, are $100 for four sessions in advance or $35 when paying one session at a time.

All the classes and workshops are held at the studios, 1950 Woodbine #9, across from the Yard.

For more information about the Prospector ARTS workshops and classes, email Pam Lockwood at [email protected].