OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi Museum has expanded the scope of its 2012 Summer Camps, but the sessions are filling up quickly.
This year’s camps are open to children entering first through eighth grades, said Sarah Story, the museum’s curator of education.
“This year, the children get to utilize Bailey’s Woods nature trail behind the museum that leads to Rowan Oak and incorporate their experiences into original works,” Story said. “This is the first year we’ve offered classes for older students. In these classes, the students’ creativity will be channeled into specific mediums, and they will be able to make a wide variety of projects within the topic of the week.”
Camp fees are $85 a week per participant for museum members at the family level and higher, and $95 for nonmembers. All supplies and snacks are included. Camp sessions run Monday through Friday.
The first six weeks of camp are for students in the first through fifth grades, with sessions running 9-11 a.m. The final three weeks, with classes for sixth- through eighth-graders, are set for 1-3:30 p.m. Parents can pick up a registration form at the museum or download a copy here.
The first camp session, “Natural Science, Art and the Environment,” runs June 11-15. Students will explore Bailey’s Woods, collect specimens and leaves, create a field notebook and make an art journal detailing the experience. The activities will be repeated in Session Four, set for July 9-13.
The second session, “Chinese Art,” kicks off June 18 and ends June 22. This weeklong camp is a celebration and exploration of Chinese art, Story said. Students will view the museum’s “On the Silk Road and the High Seas” exhibition, which features Chinese ceramics. Participants will also make shadow puppets, learn calligraphy, create paintings and prints, and experiment with clay. The activities are repeated in Session Five, which runs July 16-20.
Session Three, “All about Art,” begins June 25 and runs through June 29. Students will experiment with painting, printmaking, weaving, hand-building with clay, photography and pastels. The same material is covered in Session 6, slated for July 23-27.
In Session Seven, “3-D Transformations,” older campers will create sculptures inspired by famous works of art in the UM Museum collection and beyond, Story said. These students will also experiment with wire, recycled materials, clay and more. The session runs June 18-22.
Session Eight, “Watercolor and Acrylic Painting,” begins July 9 and ends July 13. This session’s activities are designed to give students a “chance to explore a variety of subject matter while working in the art studio and en plein air (open air),” Story said. They will also learn color mixing, wet and dry brush techniques, shading and composition while creating original paintings.
The final session, “Drawing and Illustrating,” runs July 23-27. Students will develop new drawing skills while working from photographs, still-life objects and their imaginations. They can explore wet and dry media while creating a series of original works using pen and ink, chalk, pastels, oil pastels, pencils and charcoal.
For more information about the museum’s Summer Camps 2012, contact Sarah Story at sestory@olemiss.edu.