{"id":33294,"date":"2023-07-13T19:02:26","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T23:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=33294"},"modified":"2023-07-13T19:02:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T23:02:28","slug":"summer-arts-camps-allow-kids-to-show-off-their-talents-to-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/summer-arts-camps-allow-kids-to-show-off-their-talents-to-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Arts Camps allow kids to show off their talents to community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arts and crafts have been a cornerstone of summer camps for generations, but dedicated arts camps offered by the Aurora Cultural Centre take things to the next level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s Summer Arts Camps are now underway at the Aurora Public Library, offering half-day and full-day sessions for youngsters between the ages of four and 12, covering everything from \u201cArt Through the Ages\u201d to the \u201cColour Around Us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot all of this is sketching and painting; we do art through many forms and we try to take art from as many different places and have the background to teach them, especially for our Art Around the World or Art Through the Ages weeks, we have staff educated in the art we\u2019re teaching them,\u201d says Camp Supervisor Joey Shapiro. \u201cIf we\u2019re doing Chinese Dragon paintings, for example, we have a little lesson on the cultural significance of the dragon in China and the techniques that would be used there. It\u2019s about taking art from different media forms and different skills, and also from different cultures so they broaden their artistic horizons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adds Aitak Sorahitalab, the Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s new Education and Outreach Coordinator: \u201cIt is very important for us to have the voice of different cultures within the community. For example, we don\u2019t teach Indigenous art without them \u2013 we bring an artist from that community to our camp to teach that practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sorahitalab, a resident of East Gwillimbury, recently joined the Centre in May, describing her new role as a dream job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArt is my life,\u201d says the sculptor of what drives her from a programming perspective in what is, for many, a post-COVID world. \u201cWe wanted to bring people in the community together again, so we started all our classes in person, including summer camps. We have nine weeks of programming and each week has its own theme. We are planning to have four guest artists to work with children in a half-day so these artists who have either worked with us before or have had an exhibition with us in the past, or later in the future, so we\u2019re able to tie our programming together \u2013 the education programming, galleries, everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArt, I believe, is very appreciated in this community. We have families not only from Aurora, but Markham, Richmond Hill, and other communities in York Region. It\u2019s very popular. We even have a few children who have participated in our programs before and are coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to exposing kids to a wide array of artistic styles and media, another important aspect of the camp for Sorahitalab is to build on social skills coming out of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were children who come with low soft skills because of COVID, who are maybe four-years-old, have never been out of the home before, but now they come together in this camp and socialize,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s camp, which runs July 10 \u2013 14, is focused on \u201cArtistic Imaginations,\u201d which highlights fantasy, myths and legends and \u201chow to create cool art pieces based on unicorns, dragons, mermaids, monsters, and so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cColour Around Us\u201d runs July 17 \u2013 21, with campers advised to \u201cdress for mess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis week is all about using big and bold splashes and pops of colour to create bright and imaginative pieces,\u201d say organizers. \u201cCampers will learn how to mix colours, create light and dark hues, and discover which colours help others pop out and step back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 24 \u2013 28 is \u201cSculpt It!\u201d week, where campers will be able to create 3D pieces using clay, model magic and found objects. \u201cThey will work with a variety of tools to discover unique properties of these unconventional mediums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArt Around the Globe\u201d takes place July 31 \u2013 August 4, with hands-on lessons on \u201chow different artforms have been curated around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short week follows August 8 \u2013 11 when \u201cFaces and Places\u201d is the theme. \u201cUsing a variety of materials, drawing styles, and artistic expressions, students will look at famous portraits and landscapes done by artists from around the world. Campers will discover how they can relate to art through their own unique lens and learn how to express their personalities through line, shape and colour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArt Through the Ages\u201d is the next theme from August 14 \u2013 18, which will let campers \u201ctravel to the past\u201d to see how art evolved over the centuries and \u201cbe inspired to create pieces based on key art movements, from Renaissance to Realism and everything in between and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The penultimate week of the camp, \u201cFamous Artists & Their Styles\u201d runs August 21 \u2013 25 with an outline of the styles and techniques of some of the most famous artist in history. \u201cFrom da Vinci to Dali, campers will learn about various mediums and experiment with recreating iconic artworks, each with their own unique flair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The camp wraps up August 28 \u2013 September 1 with character development. \u201cLearn how to tell your character\u2019s story through visual art. Campers will take inspiration from their favourite movie characters, and create their own, using various art materials and techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration is required for each of the weeks and may be done so through auroraculturalcentre.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the camps, participants will have the opportunity to showcase their work in a unique way during Culture Days near the end of September, the details for which will be announced in due course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to broadening the artistic horizons for kids four to 12, the camps also provide a great opportunity for art-minded high school students to earn their community service hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf anyone is looking to volunteer with us for their community service hours or just like working with kids, we\u2019re always happy to have an extra set of hands,\u201d says Shapiro. \u201cThey would be asked to assist the kids with making their art, helping us set up the room, play games and activities with the kids \u2013 just like being a camp counsellor. I think this is a unique opportunity to work at a camp specifically for art.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arts and crafts have been a cornerstone of summer camps for generations, but dedicated arts camps offered by the Aurora Cultural Centre take things to the next level. The Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s Summer Arts Camps are now underway at the Aurora Public Library, offering half-day and full-day sessions for youngsters between the ages of four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-07-13-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8F0","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-23 03:13:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}