Camping for the arts

Published 8:23 am Tuesday, August 29, 2017

By KATE SNYDER

Community Arts Center

Over 100 campers participated in summer art camps stretching from June through August at the Community Arts Center, with many campers returning for multiple camp weeks. Campers painted self-portraits and tree frogs and hot air balloons. They created mini clay sculptures and mythological monsters and giant spiders. They learned about art history, nutrition, aerodynamics, and rainforest ecology (among other topics!). They experimented and explored and made messes and created beautiful art-filled memories.

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The art camp experience wasn’t just limited to kids in and around Boyle County, though. “It was fun to keep track of our campers’ home states,” says Executive Director Niki Kinkade. “We had campers from Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington this year, as well as from throughout Kentucky.”

Thanks to community support, the Arts Center was able to offer camp scholarships to students who would not otherwise have been able to participate. “My son enjoyed art camp so much,” says one parent whose son received a scholarship. “After I picked him up each day he would talk the rest of the afternoon about all of the wonderful activities he got to do while he was there. I noticed a definite boost in his self-confidence as well. I have noticed that after being around the other kids at art camp he is more willing to approach kids on the playground to make friends.”

Earlier this month, the Arts Center launched a new overnight camp experience – Night at the Museum. Nearly 20 kids spent the evening exploring the Arts Center by flashlight and making eclipse-inspired artwork before settling down in the Grand Hall in sleeping bags. The event was so successful that the Arts Center has scheduled two more sleepover events for the fall.

In addition to running art camps, the Arts Center hosted participants in the Governors School for the Arts for three weeks. “We love to have the GSA students in residence at the Arts Center,” says Kinkade. “It’s so inspiring for our students to see older kids and think ,‘That could be me one day!’”

On exhibit Sept. 5-Nov. 10

• Horizon: Contemporary Landscape,  the eighth annual juried landscape exhibition, in the Grand Hall and Lockhart Gallery.

• Infinity, a  collaboration by the Gathering Artists, Danville’s longest-standing artist society, in the Farmers National Bank Gallery. Opening reception for both shows 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8. Exhibit hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays, suggested donation $5.

Coming up

• Starry Night Studio: Friendly Scarecrow, 2-4 p.m. Sept. 17, $28

• Lunch with the Arts: Steel Appeal, noon-1 p.m. Sept. 20, $5/door

• Adult Clay Workshop: Woven Ceramic Baskets, 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 12 and 19, $50

• Beginner Ballroom Dance, 6 p.m. Thursdays, $10/door

• 7-Up Percussion Class, 1:30 p.m. Saturdays, Sept. 30-Nov. 4, $60/person

• Munchkin & Me (18-mos to 4 years old) 10 a.m. Mondays, free

Registration for fall programs is now open on the Arts Center website at www.communityartscenter.net.

By KATE SNYDER

Community Arts Center

Over 100 campers participated in summer art camps stretching from June through August at the Community Arts Center, with many campers returning for multiple camp weeks. Campers painted self-portraits and tree frogs and hot air balloons. They created mini clay sculptures and mythological monsters and giant spiders. They learned about art history, nutrition, aerodynamics, and rainforest ecology (among other topics!). They experimented and explored and made messes and created beautiful art-filled memories.

Nina Mountjoy of Danville (back right) was joined at Rainforest Adventure Camp by her cousins from Seattle – Sophia, Margaux, and Isabella Tucker.

The art camp experience wasn’t just limited to kids in and around Boyle County, though. “It was fun to keep track of our campers’ home states,” says Executive Director Niki Kinkade. “We had campers from Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington this year, as well as from throughout Kentucky.”

Thanks to community support, the Arts Center was able to offer camp scholarships to students who would not otherwise have been able to participate. “My son enjoyed art camp so much,” says one parent whose son received a scholarship. “After I picked him up each day he would talk the rest of the afternoon about all of the wonderful activities he got to do while he was there. I noticed a definite boost in his self-confidence as well. I have noticed that after being around the other kids at art camp he is more willing to approach kids on the playground to make friends.”

Night at the Museum 2- Elementary students spent a memorable night sleeping on the floor of the Grand Hall during the Arts Center’s first-ever Night at the Museum event. Pictured from back left: Londyn Jackson, Meg Wilson, Hensley Arnold, Kate Peterson, Kathryn Lewis, Eliah Snyder, Sophie Wilson

Earlier this month, the Arts Center launched a new overnight camp experience – Night at the Museum. Nearly 20 kids spent the evening exploring the Arts Center by flashlight and making eclipse-inspired artwork before settling down in the Grand Hall in sleeping bags. The event was so successful that the Arts Center has scheduled two more sleepover events for the fall.

In addition to running art camps, the Arts Center hosted participants in the Governors School for the Arts for three weeks. “We love to have the GSA students in residence at the Arts Center,” says Kinkade. “It’s so inspiring for our students to see older kids and think ,‘That could be me one day!’”

On exhibit Sept. 5-Nov. 10

• Horizon: Contemporary Landscape,  the eighth annual juried landscape exhibition, in the Grand Hall and Lockhart Gallery.

• Infinity, a  collaboration by the Gathering Artists, Danville’s longest-standing artist society, in the Farmers National Bank Gallery. Opening reception for both shows 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8. Exhibit hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays, suggested donation $5.

Coming up

• Starry Night Studio: Friendly Scarecrow, 2-4 p.m. Sept. 17, $28

• Lunch with the Arts: Steel Appeal, noon-1 p.m. Sept. 20, $5/door

• Adult Clay Workshop: Woven Ceramic Baskets, 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 12 and 19, $50

• Beginner Ballroom Dance, 6 p.m. Thursdays, $10/door

• 7-Up Percussion Class, 1:30 p.m. Saturdays, Sept. 30-Nov. 4, $60/person

• Munchkin & Me (18-mos to 4 years old) 10 a.m. Mondays, free

Registration for fall programs is now open on the Arts Center website at www.communityartscenter.net.