When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. That’s the idea behind the recently announced merger between the Creativity Center and Oil and Water Art Supply. The new outfit, The Oil and Water Creativity Center, will provide a hub for both art supplies and education within Winslow Mall.

“What’s really perfect about this is that we’ve worked closely together in the past already,” said Pam Christiansen, formerly the Creativity Center executive director and now head of the school for the new entity. “We’ve both had this vision for how to expand creativity, whether it’s through products or classes. Once we got together, (we had) the whole thing.”

The nonprofit Creativity Center offered art classes and special workshops for adults and also those geared students with developmental delays.

The new Center, Christiansen said, will maintain that curriculum as well as adding children’s classes and teen programs, with a total of 18 area art and music instructors at its disposal.

Along with art supplies, the for-profit Oil and Water also offered regular art education, and has a history of cooperation with local schools.

This new, single source for classes and supplies, Christiansen said, extends the art-related products and services of each while putting them in convenient proximity for students. Someone taking a printmaking course upstairs at the school, for instance, can get all the supplies needed downstairs at the store.

Classes at the center will begin in mid-July. Both spaces will be open on July 3 during the street dance so that party-goers can stop in for a peek.

For more information, see www.oilandwaterarts.com or call 842-0477.