Next week begins week five of the North Central Louisiana Arts Council’s Summer Arts Camps. Up to now, the summer has seen camps in Farmerville, Homer and Ruston, with happy campers and parents throughout. Scholarships have been awarded to ten students so far, thanks to generous donations via Pick Your Picasso. Pick Your Picasso is a program that grants scholarships to students with strong interest and talent in the arts who have financial need. For three years, NCLAC has awarded twenty-five of these scholarships each summer thanks to our devoted supporters who take pride in supporting arts education initiatives. We have fifteen additional scholarships and recipients registered and waiting for their respective camps to begin. July 9-13 will be our Jonesboro camp, held at First United Methodist Church, 402 Fourth Street. Campers next week will be working on a musical in Drama. Costumes and props have been gathered to make the Final Friday performance special for both students and parents. In Visual Arts, artist and art educator Joshua Chambers will be instructing the students in both two- and three-dimensional projects. Mutant Sock Monsters and Bobble-Head Sculptures are sure to be instant favorites.
July 16-20 will be our third Ruston camp, held at First Baptist Church, 200 South Trenton. In the 2D class, campers will be investigating the face and body, learning to draw proportionally. Instructor Russell Pirkle, of the Masur Museum of Art, will have students create a booklet based on the week’s instruction. The 3D and Drama classes will be working together to create and perform a puppet show! Large foam sheets will be manipulated to build shield-like puppets that will then be used for the Final Friday performance. This week will certainly be exciting for campers.
July 23-27 will be the last camp for the summer, held in Arcadia at United Methodist Church, 2122 Myrtle Street. This camp will end the summer perfectly, with fiber arts projects, masks and small shadow puppets. Cedar Creek art teacher Mary Ann Willoughby will be heading up the Visual Arts classes. Under her instruction, weaving and needlework will be introduced to even the youngest students.
There are still spaces available for students at each of these camps. NCLAC strives to keep our camp fees low, so each one week camp costs only $60. Camps run from 9am to noon, and campers receive all supplies and a snack with their tuition. To register your student, please call our office at 255-1450, or stop by the Dixie Center for the Arts, at 212 North Vienna in Ruston. Pre-registration is required, so that we may adequately prepare supplies.
Our camps have been made possible this year thanks to a grant from Entergy, our Pick Your Picasso sponsors, and the caring groups who have opened their doors to us: First Assembly of God in Farmerville, Seeds of Light in Homer, First Baptist of Ruston, First United Methodist in Jonesboro, and United Methodist in Arcadia. We are incredibly grateful for your generosity.
Many thanks are due as well to the helpful volunteer assistants we’ve had this summer at our camps: Emma Case, Danielle Milton, Alex Bishop, Cameron Vidos, JoAnn Grafton, Bethany Raybourn, MC Davis, Chloe Kaczvinsky, Peter Hay, Adrian Gipson, Jaime Johnson, Sarah Peshoff, Mary Peshoff and Aubrey Crook. Your helpful hands have made many campers and teachers smile this summer; thank you all.