Got some creative kids with time on their hands?

The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts is hosting a special program for kids next week with artist Thomas Anfield.

Anfield's sock monkey painting series is providing the inspiration for Sock Monkey Paintings for Kids.

Young artists will create their own sock monkey sculpture, with a focus on portraying personality and character.

Anfield will use the class to discuss his paintings and techniques as students create a unique portrait of their own sock monkey.

The workshop will end with an informal reception and exhibition of student work.

Anfield is a Vancouver-based painter and performance artist who has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Africa.

His work has been featured in a variety of publications, including Modern Painters, Elle, Maclean's, Vancouver Magazine and Preview Magazine.

He first rose to prominence in the early 1980s as graffiti artist Pablo Fiasco before being awarded a full scholarship to the New York Academy of Arts. He later worked as a muralist with the Arts in Action society, touring Mexico, and was also part of a five-country tour of Africa that was documented in the film African Brushstrokes.

The program runs July 3, 4, 5 and 6 from 1 to 3 p.m. daily. It costs $67.20 and is open to kids aged nine to 13.

For more on the program, call the Shadbolt Centre at 604-291-6864 or see the city's online registration at http: //tinyurl.com/ ShadboltSockMonkeys.