Prairie Arts Center is excited to partner with the OSU Museum of Art for this year's Spring Break Camp. Humans and the Hydrosphere will be an exploration of the museum's current exhibition, "The State We're In Water: Constructing a Sense of Place in the Hydrosphere." The hydrosphere is the sum total of all the water on the planet. Students will be using the lens of art and art-making to learn about watershed habitats, wastewater recycling, and the imprint of water movement on the land. They will also have the chance to explore and express their own relationship to water and participate in an interactive tour of the exhibition led by Cat and Christina at the museum. 

Instructors
Art educator Jen Johnson holds an undergraduate degree in art history and English literature from the University of Kansas, as well as an MAT (Masters in the Art of Teaching) from the English Department at the University of Montana. In her own practice, Jen is equally invested in understanding the larger world through her interactions with the art objects of others and the making of her own art objects. Jen considers her greatest strengths as an educator to be the facilitation of reflective and critical conversations about art and art making, as well as the creation of safe environments for authentic explorations into the practices of self-expression and making. Her preferred mediums are mixed media, printmaking, and photography, but she enjoys the act of creation no matter the medium and considers it one of her greatest joys to make art alongside others.

April Dawes has had a life-long love of the arts. She was born and raised in Oklahoma and received her BFA in Oil Painting and Graphic Design from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 1998. In addition to homeschooling her 3 kids for 12 years, April has taught art in a variety of settings including classrooms, homeschool co-ops and private lessons over past several years.  She has a passion for teaching students the fundamentals and proper techniques of drawing that will allow them to be confident and successful in any artistic endeavors. In addition to teaching, April is a practicing figurative oil painter who has exhibited in multiple group shows in Oklahoma and Colorado and two solo exhibitions since 2018. She is currently working on an upcoming show in July 2021 at The Kreuser Gallery in Colorado Springs, CO.