Youth Classes

The Art of Southern Africa: July 16th-19th

The final week of our summer camp season will be an exciting investigation into the artistic traditions of the people and nations of Southern Africa. Our inspirations will range from the ancient San rock art of southern Africa to Malangatana of Mozambique, from the amazing mixed media works of Simphiwe Ndzube in Cape Town, South Africa to the colorful art markets of Swaziland. We will be sure to soak up all these rich and varied influences as our camp season comes to a close!

Clay Art Academy

This special, clay-only Art Academy is for 11-14 year old students who want an immersive clay experience. Throughout the six-week session, Clay Art Academy students will learn and practice foundational skills in handbuilding and glazing. At least three projects will be finished each six-week session and students can expect to make both functional and decorative pieces. Due to the nature of the medium and the high temperature fires, student work is occasionally damaged or a loss. We use these rare instances to teach students resilience and persistence. We do not offer make up classes.

Spring Art Academy

Art Academy is an after-school class designed for students who wish to develop and grow their artistic aptitude. Throughout each six week session, students learn and practice foundational skills in the visual arts and are exposed to a variety of mediums in both the 2D and 3D arts. Art Academy students also develop strong visual literacy and critical thinking skills through looking at and discussing their own artwork and the artwork of others. For the 6-10 year old cohort, each session yields a "final" work or project that is shared and discussed. For the 11-14 year old students, the focus shifts to skills-based instruction with an emphasis on drawing, painting, design, and composition.

Spring Break Art Camp - Meet the Makers and Shakers: An Introduction to Oklahoma's Working Artists

During this year's spring break camp, students will be introduced to the work of some of Oklahoma's most inspiring and energetic young artists. Like many of these artists, we will explore the theme of belonging- to a place, a culture, a generation. What are the emblems of our times? How can you capture the essence of a place? A people? Our works will be both collaborative and individual, two dimensional and three. Students need to bring their lunch and a snack each day and come dressed for outdoor breaks.

Handprints of My Present and Future Self

This lesson is an ideal way to incorporate art making and slow looking into the process of students getting to know one another at the beginning of the year. It is an activity I’ve seen used in therapeutic settings as well because it encourages self-reflection and a positive, imagined future self. It could also be modified to connect to a language arts lesson that seeks to build comprehension of symbols and symbolism or even to curriculum relating to archaeology and/or pre-literary human history.

Land Art Inspired Nature Collages and Photographs

This summer camp season, our theme was Art Through the Decades. During our 1970s inspired camp, we learned about the land art movement and looked at iconic works by Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt, and the more recent (and smaller scale) works of Andy Goldsworthy. We took these artists' lead, and created ephemeral, nature-based works of our own. Instead of glueing anything down, the students documented their work with photographs and took the printed images home as artifacts of their experience. It was one of the most pleasurable lessons to teach (no mess!) and the kids relished the connection to nature and the freedom of process over product. This project could be modified for any age group, pre-K through 12th grade.

Page 3 of 15