Our Summer Fine Art program began after a Valley wide search for an art camp where children could get creative and have fun in an educational setting for more than one hour a week. Summer was the perfect time to get the kids engaged in art while exploring and discovering new talents. My friend Michelle and I decided to start our own art camp. Between the two of us we had five children and the rest of the neighborhood kids joined and we had our first camp in 1996.   We held the camp at my gallery on Main Street in Old Town Scottsdale, which had little traffic in the summer months. There we explored art education and fun. Our kids enjoyed dressing up so we brought our “dress up box” (costumes and clothing ) to camp where our students ( the kids ) learned how to pose as models for the artists to draw and paint in watercolors. We discovered that they all enjoyed being models and had fun posing for each other as they learned how to draw gesture style.

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By the afternoon the kids were for ready to use both hands and create something three-dimensional. Keegan, my son invented junk collages and junk sculptures. Once created and assembled, we sprayed the sculptures bronze and mounted them on painted black blocks. The project was a big hit and they always looked fabulous! One of our parents reported that her husband saw their child’s junk sculpture on the mantel in their home and was upset because he thought she bought an expensive art piece. This project is a tradition in our curriculum and the pieces are always fun to design with new junk assembled and bronzed to look valuable!

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Summer time is the perfect time for kids to be enriched through a fine art program. Developing art skills are essential for developing the creative right side of the brain. Kids have the opportunity to advance their technique, gain appreciation for art, and and have fun!

— Carrie

AUTHOR: Creative Color Art Studios