The Durango Arts Center will remain closed for the holidays through the weekend – the exception is tonight’s show by Matt the Magician – but the Center will reopen Monday with a full schedule to kick off the new year. The previously scheduled New Year’s Event is canceled.

The first exhibits of 2012 will be “Abstract Views” in the Barbara Conrad Gallery and “Confined” in the upstairs Art Library. Both exhibits will open with a Jan. 6 public reception.

“Abstract Views” will feature 29 local artists using a variety of media to express abstract art. The exhibit, which will run through Jan. 28, also will feature a film series with weekly Wednesday screenings of documentaries about Pablo Picasso, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. Admission is by donation.

“Confined” will remain on display through February. The exhibit is a personal showcase for the mixed-media works of Andrea Martens; using a combination of materials and processes, Martens investigates issues of open space and confinement as well as physical and psychological space. She is interested in the human/animal relationship as well as its connection to the environment in contemporary industrial society.

Also in January, the Arts Center will offer classes for adults and teens in pastel painting, beginning block printing, beginning and intermediate acrylic painting and drawing, and the Wednesday Portrait Group. Also for adults is the Tuesday figure drawing class. A tween drawing class will be offered for ages 9-11 and Fabulous Fridays for ages 5-9.

Saturday workshops include mixed-media collage with Nancy Harris (Jan. 7, 14 and 21) and monoprinted fabric and hand-stitching with Ilze Aviks (Jan. 28-29; registration deadline is Jan. 10).

The Center’s Education Program also offers the Friday Open Studio from 3 to 5 p.m. Fridays, free to members.

For more information about classes, visit www.durangoarts.org and look under the Education tab or call Sandra Butler at 259-2606.

ted@durangoherald.com