Day 3 of Spree!

The humidity has kicked it up a notch today! And so has the fun! This morning, I checked in with Margery and Carolyn in the side yard, where they were getting ready to welcome the Red Group to their Gardening special. They learned about different types of soil, and even got to stick their toes in a big bucket of sand before squishing around in a puddle of mud! Pauline and Josh's morning groups (Blue and Green) were also digging into some cool projects; take a look at the pictures below for a glimpse of what they're working on!

Margery and the Red Group looking for treasures in a bowl of sand big enough for 16 little hands!

Muddy toes are a great way to learn about soil and get your feet and hands dirty at the same time! Check out that mud pie!

Liam and Alex (of the Blue Group) layering paper mache to make the final product as sturdy as possible.

Pauline's Blue Group making beautiful treasure pockets to collect goodies on their nature walks!

The afternoon groups were also moving right along delving into new stages of projects that will be on display next Thursday afternoon, at the Art Shows! The Turquoise Group was in the painting stage of preparation for their Pow Wow, which will be performed before their group's Art Show. The Red Group met David our Afternoon Ceramics teacher this session, and he led them through the construction of birds' nests, complete with birds and eggs to go inside them! Once the Red Group's time was up in the ceramics studio, the Orange Group came in and got to let their imaginations run wild and create a sculpture of whatever their hearts desired.

The Green Group singing along to the radio as they worked.

Declan doesn't need a chair to paint his masterpiece. 

Dave listening intently as Keegan describes a seagull he once saw at Chik-fil-A. 

Does Lucia approve of the size of the egg Ada made for her birds' nest?

Sophia B. creating her "Family Home" out of clay.

Day 2 of Fun in Session 1

Day 2 of the summer saw our Spree teachers and aides getting right back into the swing of things. The aides were all smiles as they met the kids at their cars and took them safely to their teachers this morning. Once divided up into their groups, the kids dug right into their art supplies. (Many of which are generously donated to the CAC by members and art lovers throughout the area - Thanks Donors!) 

This morning, I stopped into Jen's Art Start room to check up on the youngest group of campers, where I found Maddy working on a little piece of make-believe made from repurposed soda bottles and tissue paper. As the Red Group transitioned into snack, I popped over into the Kid's Ceramics studio to find Juanita guiding the Orange Group through a new project: making snails out of clay. (Try to imagine the last time you concentrated on anything as fully as a 5-year-old molding a huge wad of clay into something he's proud of.) My final stop this morning was into the Turquoise Group's room where Pat was in the middle of instructing the oldest group of campers in a geometric art project using graph paper.

Maddy (of the Red Group) hard at work on her fairy house!

Bryce (of the Orange Group) deeply concentrating on his clay snail.

Sophia D., Sophia B, Mira, and Mia accessorizing their snails with clay-jewellery of their own creation.

Pat helping her 5th & 6th graders in the beginning of a new art project...

Can't wait to see the final products!

Today marked the first day of the summer that we have yoga in the afternoons with our favorite yogi, Kim! I popped into the ballroom just in time to see the Red Group playing yoga-Simon-Says and have some relaxing time in the air-conditioned ballroom. Down in the kitchen, the Red Group did some out-of-the-box art by making their own little pita-pizzas. Yum!

Kim leading the Red group through a game of Yogi-Says.

Sarah helping her Orange Group make mini pita-pizzas...

...which Finn, Liam, and Reese definitely enjoyed, by the looks of it!

Afternoon Adventures, Day 1

The fun  of Magic Mornings doesn't have to end at noon! Every day, we have our Lunch Bunch of kids who hang out with our wonderful aides from 12-1pm before Afternoon Adventures begins. When 1:00 rolls around, the kids go off into their groups and launch into three more fun and art-filled hours! Scroll down to check out some of the things the campers did this afternoon!

Dean of the Turquoise Group selecting materials for his habitat...

Here, Pauline assists Melissa and Declan (Turquoise Group) in building their habitats.

Jen can't decorate the Red Group's room all by herself, so Lucia, Mia, and Mira help out by making name tags for their cubbies!

Keegan's helping out too by painting a mini mural.

Josh's Outdoor Games special gives the kids a much needed chance to let out some energy in the side yard.

We also hold teen classes for children older than 5th or 6th grade in the afternoons at Summer Spree. This session, we are offering Digital Photography and Pottery Wheel classes at 1pm and Handbuilding, Drawing & Pastels, and Homemade Beauty Products classes at 2:30.

Some down time during Digital Photography, pretending to be a butterfly!

The Digital Photography class exploring the scenery around the parking lot.

Two of the teens in Carol Seymour's Wheel Class getting to know the pottery wheels.

Suzanne Brophy teaching her class of teens about the natural benefits of herbs from her garden.

Another Summer of Art Begins!

The first day of Summer Spree is finally here! It's been a long winter and all of us here at the Arts Center are thrilled to be back for another art-filled summer.

Magic Mornings kicked off to a great start! Our specials this session are Gardening with Margery and Ceramics with Juanita, as well as Tie Dye on Thursday (for the Red & Orange groups) and Friday (for the Green, Blue, and Turquoise groups).

Mia & Mira of the Orange group stretching their imaginations during snack time.

Dean, Gianna, and Emily hard at work in Ceramics, making Piggies with Personality.

The Blue group is listening to their teacher, Pauline, discuss her Piggy's personality.

Lucy and Liam of the Green group working in their sketchbooks.

Finn and Emma (Green group) pose with the paper mache they worked on this morning. Can't wait to see what these balloons will turn into by the end of the session! 

Session III Art Shows!

Summer Spree Session III has been simply swimming with great art and greater kids! As I made my way around to the art shows this Friday, I saw some awesome work. My first stop was with the Orange Group, where they were finishing up some final preparations before parents walked into their Bridge Room "Gallery."

Members of the Orange Group decorating their take-home bags which will hold their fabulous artwork, shown below!

Ice Cream Cones were a feature for a few groups in the ceramics studio this session. Don't they look just tooth-chipping yummy? 

Decorated seashell molds and drip-painted recycled containers brightened up by splatter-painted table covers beneath.

Sampling of the afternoon Orange Group's coin-cans and ceramics creations.

Awesome boats made from old miniature building blocks and recycled wood. So cool!

The Green Group was not in their room when I went to see them, but I did get to glimpse some of the work they had out for their show. Looks like they've been pretty busy as well!

Shields inspired by medieval times, and check out that detailed map they've hung in the background!

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Jen always makes sure her Red Group's art is displayed so that the kids can easily find all their work, with their tie-dyed masterpieces as tablecloths for their collections.

Red Group Art Show in full swing: Three Generations of CAC-lovers in some cases!

Found the Yellow Group putting finishing touches on their Ceramics pieces in the kid's pottery studio, then went up to their classroom to find some great work on very fitting Yellow tablecloths!

Nametags, artwork, prints, and some inspirational examples cover the tables and walls in the Yellow Group's room

Check out those great big underwater water colors! How pretty!

The Purple Group had a very interesting display set up in their room! In addition to the camper's artwork posted all over the walls, there was a section by the window where they hung 3D artwork and recreations of underwater creatures and wildlife!

Just putting some final touches to his ceramics display...looks great and love the multimedia artwork on the walls!

I got to see these awesome paintings in the production process. Campers used paint and various techniques of splattering and blowing the paint around to create new shapes and images before using their black pens and a little imagination to turn them into undersea creatures they learned about this session.

Touching up the fun 3D display!

The Turquoise Group also had a very cool 3D pond/waterfall display in their room, when I went to visit. They also set up extra vertical space so they could display all of their outstanding work...

I'm seeing a river, waterfall, and pond! Almost hard to believe this is all indoors! 

Awesome work, Turquoise Group!

My last, but certainly not least, stop was into the gallery, where Pauline was making her usual magic that shines from her whenever she's with a group of kids. Her group was just getting into their musical performance, with the boys of the group keeping the beat in the middle of the circle, while she and the girls sang and danced along with handmade instruments and accessories. Impossible not to smile when you see kids having such a good time and learning so much at camp!

Aerial view of the performance from the gallery's balcony

Parents look on, listening and clapping along to their kids' melodies

Parents and grandparents joined in the finale before the procession led back to the Art Show in their classroom.