If the past week of the Columbus Arts Council”s Summer Art Camp series is any indication, parents and their children agree the camp is a success.
In keeping with the theme, “By Land or Sea,” children “dove into their imaginations to create an underwater world of sea creatures” through two- and three-dimensional works of art, including masks, noted art instructor Blake Reynolds.
Additionally, they designed comic books, wrote poems and were engaged in other educational, yet artistic, endeavors.
“I think it”s wonderful,” Everett Little said of the camp, in which his daughter, Chelsea Little, 7, participated. “Any activity that (enables them to) explore their minds, with another avenue besides basketball or baseball, I think is wonderful.”
“It”s been great,” said Nichole Bailey, who drove each day from Pickens County, Ala., so her children, Parker, 9, and Tanner, 6, could benefit from the camp. “It”s been more than I expected. I”m very impressed and I”ll do it again.”
“It”s been a fabulous educational experience,” said Susan Hutchinson, whose children, Sara, 5, and Walker, 7, participated. “The children are engaged; they”re happy and they”re learning about different cultures and countries.”
About 19 children, aged 5 to 13, participated in the morning session of the By Land or Sea camp week, held June 15 through June 19.
A “habitat safari” camp was held June 1 through June 5; “shades of green” camp was held June 8 through June 12 and “creation station” camp will be held June 22 through June 26; the camp consists of both morning and afternoon sessions, often with different children participating in each.
“This year”s camp is going really well,” said Columbus Arts Council Director Rachel Smith. “In spite of the economy, attendance is up this year. We have four weeks with different themes and the last two are our most well attended. This week, we had a cooking class, a really great class that focused on fun science experiments, a mask-making class and two art classes.
“I taught the cooking class and I have to say I really enjoyed it,” she added. “Cooking with 5- and 6-year-olds is very entertaining. This camp is a great experience for both the kids and parents. Parents get the opportunity to see their children open up artistically. Sometimes the most shy child turns into our biggest performer. Art opens doors for these kids and being able to facilitate that experience is the absolute best part of my job.”
A former Columbus Arts Council director, Heather Rowland, also taught classes during the camp, working with the morning students on mask-making and teaching “creative science” to older students.
“It”s a good group; it”s a wonderful group,” she said of her students. “(The camp) has been going really well. There are things I didn”t know I”ve been learning about.
“The summer camp is beneficial because many children have no other exposure with art,” she continued. “This is a chance for them to experience anywhere from two to four different mediums in a short period. Arts can teach everything from creative writing, problem solving to working together as a community. And there”s something really cathartic, even for a child, to be able to put their hands in clay and make a mess. It”s a way to harness negative energy into positive energy.”
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