Friday, August 22, 2008

Last day of Camp

AUGUST 21, 2008
This is the last day of the SPACE Summer Arts Camp. It's been a rich experience, even thrilling at times, as we have seen so many children leaning new skills, exploring their creativity and making new friends. This week, kids worked with teacher Joan Swayze at discovering new ways to draw. They used a variety of materials (including spaghetti!) to expand their definition of line and shape and space. Teacher Kat Schroeder worked with the youngest members of the camp on a fun skit involving a movie producer and a giant carrot! The children made scenery, costumes and props for the skit, and also created their own clay creatures and fabric dolls.

The acting/filmmaking class, filled with middle school children, were introduced to acting and filmmaking techniques. They got to perform roles from famous movies like Napoleon Dynamite, the Devil Wears Prada, and Legally Blonde, then they took turns directing and shooting the scenes. We look forward to seeing the edited versions of the scenes today. What a fun and active week - we will report more tomorrow about the experiences of the camp's final day.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

SPACE Arts Camp has successful first week


The SPACE Arts Camp completed its first week on Friday and it was a great success! We had twenty seven children participating in our first arts camp and it was a wonderful experience for nearly every one involved. Children age 9 - 13 learned about digital photography, modern art and comic book illustration. They were also treated to a lesson in clay mask-making from ceramicist Rebecca Tager and took a trip to the historic Rialto Theater to see films featuring comedic artist Buster Keaton. An exhibit at the end of the week showed how talented and creative the children were. The students taking Rachel Armas' Get Modern workshop displayed paintings. collages and sculptures inspired by artists such as Picasso, Klimt, Basquiat and Brancusi. The amateur photographers, led by photographer Kathleen McLaughlin, created portfolios of photographs which expressed the students' individual personalities and vision. Artist Seth Astle helped the children in his class to create their own unique comic book characters and storylines which resulted in some very funny and lively comic strips. Thanks to camp assistants Katya Shaposhnik and Vincent Uribe, the week's afternoon studio was filled with creative activities such as drawing paint drip monsters and creating life size portraits. We look forward to Week #2 of SPACE Arts Camp where we hope to have another great week making art and having fun with our friends.