The finale.

by Bridget.

What a week. Having moved up here from Boston, it was both a challenge and a blessing to have a posse of art-campers to reckon with every morning. It was especially the case on Friday - I sat in my car glued to Facebook and text updates from friends in Watertown and Cambridge, putting the pieces together much faster than NPR, also on.  When the first students showed up for camp, I shut off my phone, shook it off, headed inside and switched gears. I started the day confessing my anxious mood and distraction during our opening circle, and asking that we mentally re-group for the best-last-day-possible. Boy did they deliver... after devolving into as close to mayhem as I've ever encountered in my ten years of teaching! But to say they made up for it is an understatement.
At the start of the week, Taylor had been drifting off from the group to play "the cup song" (You're Gonna Miss Me). Luna was drawn to this, and Taylor graciously taught her and practiced with her during free times. She even gave in to the request to perform it for the rest of the group. Around the same time, Melisa requested that we present artwork in a "show" at the end of the week. The Talent Show was born.

The high temps and general antsy energy of the group demanded we go outside.
I swapped out the acrylics we'd been working with for the most washable stuff we had - tempera - loaded up boxes of supplies, and cut two huge pieces of paper that fit two blank panels in the space we'd been all week. I set up some "aesthetic guidelines": work in groups, have a limited palette, include a border, a nature-inspired central focus, and consider a patterned background. The group added suggestions. Smocks on. If you didn't dress for painting, be careful not to sit ON the painting.
"Go."

What I didn't account for was the insane gusts of wind that crashed our painting session only after the paints were out and the work was started. Waters spilled, painty papers flew and flopped towards those in their "nice clothes"... the groups wanted to work away from each other - huge mistake. My back was turned; the boys decided using their hands was the best work-around for paintbrush failure, and the Pollock approach was chosen for the piece.

 A bottle of paint fell to the ground and cracked open, making that color the must-have for both groups. I raised my voice for the first, second, third, and fourth times of the week as we tried to get inside without further damages.
"Well, Bridget, at least we really had fun! I mean, THAT was AWESOME!"
I explained that I'd take the heat for their disastrous appearances, and if they didn't take a little responsibility for breaking our Agreements, I'd lose my job.
"Don't worry - I make a complete mess all the time. My mom doesn't care."
Right.
In the remaining half hour, the team swung into action: hanging artwork, choosing roles, tightening up acts they'd come up with and practiced entirely on their own, cleaning up the room... how perfect to have a stage and a dozen chairs.. and a "spot light"!

Melisa and Maddie share the surviving part of the mural made earlier.

I was so moved by all of the supportive parents that managed to come early for the show. A first for me, after working with inner city families that could rarely make the year-end events.

I'm going to post video here from the show as I'm able. I again regret that I didn't get more of the ever-impressive "critique session"recorded, but I'm so glad parents got to see how brilliant their kids were.
I would be so thrilled to see these artists again this summer!

Papermaking Day

Sadie and Romy speaking, photos by Cameron:
Today we did something fun and messy...Paper making!
Heres how to do it.
First of all, we had to make the mixture of pulpy water.

 Second we put a screen and an empty frame into the pulpy mix. We lifted it out of the water very slowly, and took the frame off of the framed screen.
 Next we put a bigger screen over the framed one. After that, we pressed a sponge over the screen to get some of the water out.We took the framed screen off of the other one, and put a couch towel (pronounced as cooch) over the pulpy almost paper, and pressed down.

 The pulp stuck to the couch towel and we put another couch towel over it. We pressed down on that couch towel, and then took it off. Next we brought the pulpy paper to Bridget, and she ironed it to get the remaining water out. It was a long process, so it took all day. Goodbye!
      P.S.you should come to art camp!

clay day adventures [by luna and maddie.]

Luna speaking: today we  made nests out of clay. Outside and inside.
Then we came in to paint our snakes.
We got messy all day. It was fun. bye bye

Maddie  speaking:   Yesterday  we  sanded and painted  snakes. 
Today we decorated our snakes.

I liked molding the clay too. I made a whole bunch of things.
I'm looking forward to papermaking.

We went outside to find "dead stuff" for our nests. Every art-yard should have swings! 

tuesdays today

 Today we did many things, the first thing we did water color resist again today. Yesterday we didn't really have a good understanding of it, but today we did really good and came out with some awesome artwork.

it was a lot of fun I really liked to see all the different style of art.

I did a watercolor resist painting called, "the Disorders of Orange". 

After we did the watercolors, me and Rio were testing acrylic paints to see if they were good - especially the really old ones. It was wild - a couple of them squirted all over my arms - it was super messy. My arms and hands and face are covered in paint at this moment.After that, we went outside and found some really cool sticks. We are gonna do a project called spirit snakes. What we did today to start them off was, we started to sandpaper them outside, but then it was getting too windy so we came in. A lot of us finished sanding, then we painted the base coat of them a lot of different colors.

 

 Today we got really involved with the water resist thing and we were gonna do clay but we ran out of time. Bridget said we're going to do it tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.

                                         By Ronin!

By Bridget: Today was our first "critique". I'm sorry I didn't get more of this on video - there were several really great, encouraging comments on the artist's work before I grabbed my camera. Parents were kept waiting, so many kids wanted to share their work and offer feedback! 

What we did today

Earth Art Camp, Day 1!

We started the week with some great conversation about forgery versus inspiration. It came up as we wrote down some agreements for the week. Artists were airing some frustrations about doing art in school. I assured the group this was a place they could experiment, mess up, be inspired by others, get credit for unique ideas, and have space to do what works for them. Each artist filled out an Artist's Bio sheet, thinking about their unique preferences and creative habits. This lets me know how I can support them during the week. Lots of different styles in the group of ten!

We headed to the gallery to visit the Earth show for inspiration. Some favorites:

Making a list of things that come to mind when we think "nature" turned into making a crayon resist poster, which led to artists making their own. This "detour" seemed to be a hit - makes me think we need to let older kids draw with crayons more! We may return to it again this week, with thicker paper.

Today we colored on a piece of paper REALLY hard with light and dark colored crayons. Then we, painted the opposite color of the crayons on them. Like, if we had light colors for the crayon's color we would paint dark colors over them. Or, if we had dark colors for the crayon's color, we would paint light colors over them. But, before we painted over the crayon, we had to fold the paper,(Or crumple it) then we put the paper in water, took it out, dried it, and painted it.

                           Taylor

"Um... I don't think that's gonna work."

Then we headed outside to the yard, to make tiny terrariums. It's not easy finding a REALLY small plant with roots! There was lots of laughter and helping each other out. Corks are a popular item. Now we can take a little bit of springtime with us - many walked out wearing theirs as a necklace! 

"Today was awesome. I can't wait until tomorrow. Because it's more camp! We got to make some pretty cool artwork. I like when we used the crayons.  It's cool here because you can be yourself and make the art YOU want to make."

- Rex

Special thanks to the Marker Check Crew!

Getting ready for Art Camp

Preparing for a five day art camp for a small group of "older" kids is an interesting endeavor for me.
I want to be prepared with the right materials, while at the same time, I want to be flexible enough to follow the group's interests. Camps are often marketed with a theme I'm somewhat bound to - I come up with five days of fun activities to be used for advertising, then discover some great material in the closet I'd love to use, or get inspired by something I see... the list of "possible projects" grows.  Expectations of parents is another variable that reins in the possibilities a bit. While I want to focus on the kids' experiences and the artistic processes, parents invariably want products. Especially when the word "camp" evokes nostalgia for crafts (lanyards!).
To make matters more interesting, in a small town/rural area, it can be hard to fill a camp program... we needed a minimum number of kids to sign up to pay for the costs of running the camp - which we barely had a week before the starting date. Several days before the start date, I'd heard we'd run the camp, but with only 4 or 5 kids. I simplified my game plan.
Needless to say, the day before camp started we were up to ten kids.
Tomorrow I'll have 12.

Having worked in informal ed. for most of my teaching career, I know better than to over-prepare specifics that may or may not fit the situation at hand. One thing I invest my time in is the environment.
The space you are in with kids has a huge effect on outcomes. Mood, attention, inhibition, energy level/noise, and creativity are all factors that we have more control over that some might think!

During my time at the Children's Museum, I was able to design my own space after years of observing visitors and figuring out what we needed. I lucked out - everything was as perfect as one could ask for. Ample, locked storage (sized to fit my containers!), plenty of natural light, great artificial light, plants, display areas, moveable tables and stools that fit our visitors, flooring that cleaned up easily, and aesthetic considerations like warm, natural colored counters, and sleek black tabletops... the space was called an "oasis"in a chaotic building. It was hard not to feel good there.

Teaching after school programs, camps, adult ed classes, and whatever else comes my way, I'm lucky if I get to see the space before teaching there. In schools, I may be moving from one classroom to another week to week. At Waterfall Arts, I'm teaching in the newly renovated "fallout shelter" - a pretty foreboding name everyone seems pretty accustomed to. Contrary to the sound of it, it has lots of sunlight, bright new floors and paint. There's an eclectic collection of furniture, including rows of movie theatre seats and a "bar". The space is used as a staff kitchen, so there's some amount of necessary clutter. The space is large - bigger than what's needed for ten kids. The walls are cement - even with new sound panels, the space could get loud fast. Just a week ago Waterfall hosted a huge party with live music and dancing in this room. If one has as little tolerance for chaos as I do, one needs to create the opposite atmosphere in the same space!

I've used the space several times now and I'm happy with what I was able to do in a couple of hours to transform the room into something that works for me and the kids.

I created a "living room" area to act as a magnet for kids arriving. It pulls them in from the expanse of the room we aren't using (which is intentionally left bare) while separating them from the work space. This way I can be setting up materials without having to swat them away until I'm ready! The couches put kids at ease - much more so with the "coffee table" I made with an art podium I found in the hall. I don't need to give any instructions  - "sit on the couches and talk to each other" happens, while I'm welcoming parents and preparing.
I bought some books at Goodwill with nature photography, animals, and threw in one of those "Magic Eye" books to occupy curious, fidgety types and those needing "a break". This feeds inspiration while keeping hands off of the other shelves around the room. I also bought an old calendar of Inuit artwork. I cut it up and hung the artwork with double sided tape around the room - thematic (all nature-inspired), consistent (borders and size - cuts down on visual clutter), varied (different artists - something for everyone), and best of all, numerous. 12 pieces of cool artwork for a dollar.

In the interest of allowing artists to explore and indulge in "what works for them", I created a variety of work areas. A table for one, close to "home base" where I prep materials, another a bit further away for someone who doesn't want anyone looking at their work, a floor area, clipboards for the couch area, and worktables pushed together for spreading out and socializing. I loved seeing the artists make themselves at home (the boys took their shoes off almost immediately) and gravitate to these spaces naturally. They worked on their Artist Bios for fifteen minutes. At desks, this would've felt like "homework" and lasted five minutes (speaking from experience)!

Another must-have: music. I have some playing during work-times and at the beginning and end of sessions. While kids came in this morning, I mentioned music and headed toward my laptop. "Oh! Um, can you play some rock and roll? I love rock. I seriously live rock." So we started the day with some Led Zepplin. The artist was thrilled - he went to the group mural paper and drew an electric guitar. What otherwise might have felt awkward and a little scary to kids coming in felt like a party - I noticed the 2 songs I played aren't really "dancy" - so kids weren't jumping around. Later, I played some Pat Methany while we painted. It's relaxing instrumental stuff that's pleasing without putting anyone to sleep. The room was quiet but busy for twenty minutes.

Looking forward to turning the lights out and plugging in the christmas lights (still up from the party) this week!