Flamingos, pineapples, rocks and books now have something in common.
They are the themed days during this year’s art camp at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts in Seymour, which returned after a year’s absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arts center board member Georgiann Coons said a friend in Evansville told her those themes went over well for their camp, so she thought it would be worth trying here.
It all resonated with the 21 kids who attended the four-day camp this week, and Coons expects the same result next week when 30 boys and girls, ranging from those who just finished kindergarten to those who just finished fifth grade, come to the center for camp.
"We just wanted to give the kids an art experience," Coons said of offering the summer camp this year.
For flamingo day, the kids made tissue paper flamingos, water globes with flamingos and a pointillism painting with — you guessed it — an image of a flamingo.
"We talked about mixing tones and hues, making lighter colors and darker colors," Coons said of the painting. "You give them the paint they need for that project, and they follow that."
On the second day, campers made pineapple slime, painted pineapple pencil boxes and used bubble wrap and printed pineapples to make garlands.
Jessica Goodwin, a member of the Brown County Rock and Mineral Club, helped with activities on rock day. She led a program outside on the stage before the kids painted rocks and made jewel suncatchers and treasure boxes.
Finally, book day consisted of making covers for journals and sketchbooks and colored bubble paintings.
Throughout the week, campers also participated in a station learning about music and playing instruments and let their imaginations run wild at the craft imagination station.
"I just hope they take away that they can be creative with whatever they have. We’ve talked a lot about recycling crafts and that they can make art," Coons said.
"Especially during the pandemic, it seems to me that people turned to the arts. They maybe picked up something or they watched YouTube videos," she said. "I have this saying on my work room wall, ‘Arts and crafts keep you sane,’ and I think it’s just an enjoyable part of your life to include art in it."
Not all kids are able to fit art into their school class schedule, so Coons said it’s good to give them the option of the summer camp.
"I think as much art as we can give them, the better it will be," she said.
Plus, she likes being around the kids and seeing what they create.
"I love seeing them enjoy making, so that’s really fun," Coons said. "Especially in the imagination station, they love to show you what they just made. I just love it."
Katelynn Woods, 12, said she attended art camp when she was younger, so she was glad she chose to return this summer.
"I just always really liked art. I love painting," she said, noting the flamingo painting was one of her favorite activities. "I thought it was just cool the things they had to do. It’s just really fun, and you can do a lot of things here."
Getting to use different patterns on the cover of the sketchbook was something new for Woods.
"I might take it places just to doodle, entertain myself," she said.
This was the first time for Andy Campbell, 6, and Sana Torii, 10, to attend art camp.
"Because I love art so much, because they have four different types of days," Campbell said of what drew him to the camp.
He liked making the flamingo with tissue paper the most.
"They had tissue paper, and you had to fold it like an accordion," he said.
Torii said she often paints and draws and really loves art, so camp was the perfect place for her.
"It’s fun and has a lot of colors, and I really like that," she said of the art mediums. "It’s cool to paint things and color, and I love crafts."
Campbell encourages other kids to attend art camp in the future.
"Because they can learn how to do more art and more skills and practice more so they know if they can do it," he said.
Coons said the arts center plans to offer art opportunities for teens in the fall and winter.
"We talked about a lot of teens love art, but they are not able to take it (at school)," she said. "That’s the plan is to be able to offer more things all of the time."
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Southern Indiana Center for the Arts is at 2001 N. Ewing St., Seymour.
Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays or by appointment.
For information, call 812-522-2278, visit soinart.com or facebook.com/artatsica or email [email protected].
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