Art Camp, Art Workshops, Art Classes: Why Every Young Artist Needs Them!

My nephew is a sporty kid. He loves every kind of field sports. If he lived in Canada, he’d probably play hockey five times a week. His circle of friends is huge and the camaraderie they share is obvious. He’s comfortable, socially. Confident. At ease in the world.

My niece loves art. One look at her work and you can see how talented she is. It’s her passion. When she paints, she sings. Her world shines. She knows who she is, and where she wants to be.

If these kids sound content, that’s because they are. Nothing makes a person as content, whatever their age, as doing the thing they love. Celebrating their talents. Growing in their uniqueness as a person. But there is one difference between the two of them. My nephew only has to pick up a soccer ball and he is surrounded in friends. My niece picks up a paint brush and – well, painting is solitary by nature.

That’s where art classes, workshops and  camp comes in. Sure, it’s about the ‘arts education’ – growing better at what you love to do. But art workshops serve a far more important function. They bring together like-minded youth, giving them the opportunity to connect in what is otherwise a solitary activity. Art classes offer the same camaraderie as a soccer or hockey game. They are every bit important for kids with arts interests. But we can tend to forget this, because while hockey requires a team, it is always possible to do art alone.

‘I never knew there was so many people like me,’ a camper in one of our fine art camps told me, looking round the art studio with a smile. It was her first art camp. Her first art class, even. In that – and most – art workshops, there was none of the shouting and laughter that you might hear from a hockey team – just quiet conversations, music in the background, and a lot of focus on painting. But you could sense the support. That each artist, while working alone, was aware of everyone else. Sharing an experience every bit as social as a soccer game.

A good art teacher makes use of the fact that art classes bring together individuals who usually follow their passion alone. Our art camp incorporates group murals, paintings and sculptures into most fine art programs. Our art workshops include fun group warm-ups to stimulate laughter and discussion, as well as critiquing sessions for older campers, to take advantage of the presence of other artists. Art campers discuss their work with one another, collaborate and share resources. They learn to articulate their vision, by responding to the interest of fellow artists. And they discover that although they may often paint alone, loving art is by no means unique to them.

Kids who love soccer will come together with little adult intervention, to kick a ball around and do what they love to do. Children who love art may never come together with others who share their interest, because they may never see the need before they try it. This is where we, the adults in their lives, play a vital part. Art camp, art workshops, art classes: by encouraging all of these we teach our young artist that they are part of a community, even when they work alone, and we help them to articulate their interests, sharing socially in an activity that is all too often undertaken alone.

Julie

Centauri Summer Arts Camp
www.centauriartscamp.com