Enthralled by the arts
Published 2:42 pm Thursday, July 20, 2017
LaBrea Nicholas, 7, applies purple, black and pink dyes to her T-shirt (photo by Emily Hollingsworth).
Katie Martin, front, adds green dye to a T-shirt. Pictured in background are Skyler Saulisbury, left, and Annie Mulder (photo by Emily Hollingsworth).
About 25 children between the ages of 7 and 14 channeled their inner artists during the Buckingham County Arts Council’s (BCAC) Summer Arts Camp, which wrapped up recently.
The BCAC Summer Arts Camp is in its 37th year, organizer Annie Mulder said.
Campers got to do everything from dance, tie dye, clay, sculpting, drama, photography, zen doodling and cartoon drawing.
Between seven to eight second-grade students took part in tie dying shirts, where the kids took white shirts, folded them and placed colored dyes within the shirts.
They worked in the upper floor of the BCAC building at 30 Administration Lane in Buckingham Court House.
LaBrea Nicholas, 7, chose small bottles of black, purple and pink dyes to infuse into her shirt. The dyed shirts would later be placed in a plastic bag and put in the corner.
When asked what her favorite part of the day was so far, Nicholas said she liked “picking the colors for the shirt.”
The group of second graders, in addition to two other elementary-and middle school-age groups, got to draw cartoons, perform lyrical dancing, take photos and work on clay projects.
Mary Johnson, a rising senior at Buckingham County High School, said she had attended the camp when she was younger, and is in her second year as a team leader.
She leads the kids in her group to different classes and assists them when needed.
“I enjoy getting to teach them and get to see them learn new things,” Johnson said.
Mulder said that both the children and parents of past years enjoy the fun and creative nature of the camp. There are even past campers who have aged out of the camp, but come back to serve as camp leaders.
“The parents, of course, love it because their kids create things,” Mulder said. “It gives the kids time away from the house during the summer to hang out with peers and to be introduced to performing arts, as well as 2-D art and 3-D art.”
Mulder and Sakina Sawtelle, BCAC’s president, said children showcased the art forms they learned during a show recently, where family and friends were invited to attend.
Each child got to wear the tie dye shirts they made and displayed their art and clay work in addition to putting their dance and drama into practice with a performance based on “Peter Pan.”
