The time has come to start thinking about the 2016 Summer camps. At this early stage, that mostly means enrollment, booking a classroom, sorting out dates, and sending out emails, and this will all need to happen over the next two weeks.
I’m finding it difficult to focus. Being me, I can’t really separate all that nitty-gritty administrative stuff from what I really want to do: plan the content of the camps.
I get so excited about planning a new series of projects, researching artists and techniques, and …just…being…immersed in new ideas, that it can interfere with the other, less exciting, nevertheless important, aspects of running a camp. I wish I had a business manager/accountant/butler, sigh.
I’m off to pound the streets of Vienna today. Approaching schools and churches with a solid determination to find a suitable venue for my summer antics. “Hello would you like to host me, and a group of frenzied kids with loaded paintbrushes this summer?” Hmmm, need to work on my introduction.
I’ll leave in an hour. Until then, I’m going to give myself some time to think about the camp content. In order to do that I need to evaluate……
….What worked last year?
Let’s see, what did the kids particularly enjoy, which projects and activities were most successful?
- Typography
- Experiments using unusual drawing materials (sticks, marbles dipped in ink etc)
- Musical chairs (strange but true, they couldn’t get enough of that game)
- large scale group printing projects
- printing with rolling pins
- Dot paintings, and anything pattern related.
- Hanging out with my teenage assistant (so much cooler than me)
- Screen printing
- Making something utilitarian
- Putting on a performance
- library breaks, quiet time, and books on CD
- Open ended 3D projects
- Taking a walk in the middle of projects
- Toilet humor and the word ‘poop’
Food for thought. Definitely need to find another willing teenager to help out this year. I see some pretty amazing projects forming in my head already. Watch this space.
