Engaging Young Minds: Summer Arts Education for Ages 7-16

This summer we had about 200 registrations across all of our summer camps for children, primarily across ages 7 - 16 years old. Campus was bustling with their energy, positivity, and creativity.

This year we have added 3 one-week camps for the 7-13 year olds. When I started this position in January 2023, many requests were coming in for arts programs for this age range. Leonie Little-Lex designed a well rounded program with our 3 themed weeks: Wild Woodlands students designed their own treehouses and shelters, create enchanted toadstool houses or log cabins, and painted wild animals in wooded settings, Aquatic Adventures where they dove into the world under the ocean learning how to draw and paint marine life, build underwater shipwreck sculptures and coral reefs, and created timeworn treasure maps, and Out of this World which included drawing inspiration from alternate universes in mythology, painted galactic skies using cool techniques, and created their own extraterrestrial comics. Projects included watercolor, drawing, sculpture, clay, and mixed-media including nature materials. 

Assisted by her intern Eve, who had a very special way with the students, they were guided to not only focus on their dedicated art projects but also to respect each other, learn how to stretch themselves, and what it means to them to be in community. There are many ways the arts can benefit young minds; "Their research found that students who had increased arts education experiences saw improvements in writing achievement, emotional and cognitive empathy, school engagement and higher education aspirations, while they had a lower incidence of disciplinary infractions." (Mind Expanding Value of Arts Education, The New York Times)

Next year we hope to expand these offerings to offer more weeks of the summer or possibly extended times. We're open to feedback, please get in touch via email with any suggestions how we can make these programs accessible to all.

For 15 years we have offered a 2 week program called Summer Art led by the inspiring David Sigel and Hilary Hutchison. Students ages 11 - 16 continue to come back to the center year after year to explore projects in an innovative environment. Their two-week program concluded with an arts exhibition for parents. At the end of the session, every student acquired new skills, produced a portfolio of artwork, and benefited from the experience of working with peers in a fun, motivating, and creative studio setting.

Every year we are amazed at the creativity and connection these students have to their artwork and their pride in sharing it with others.