This week was all about Street Art and Parkour, because I think the two go together really well, like tea and cake, or Sundays and naps, you get the idea. There is a cool list of resources that we used at the bottom of this post, if you feel like skipping all my waffling. Otherwise, read on.
We kicked off the camp with a two hour parkour workshop run by a parkour enthusiast and friend of mine. It was hot, maybe too hot, but the kids loved it. They loved it even more when my “friend” suggested that I do a parkour circuit for the kids. Part of my job description is to be a good sport, and constantly available for acts of self humiliation, so I thought “what the heck” and lumbered ahead and gave the kids a good rollicking laugh (video exists but not available here).
The kids went on to look at different examples of street art and public art, and worked in groups to create mini post-it murals. This was a great hit, I mean, who doesn’t like post-it notes, huh?
We looked at Banksy and Ed Roth, and tried our hand at stenciling, and cutting our own stencils without cutting our hands. I’m glad (and slightly surprised) to announce that all the students left with the same amount of digits that they arrived with.
Then onto the big, messy project of the week. The campers painted and stenciled their own designs onto big wooden boards, that will be used to make parkour equipment for the aforementioned friend. They will see images of the equipment once it is made, and, hopefully, get to use it at a camp next year!!!!
The kids ended the week by playing games; one where they made graffiti awards for each other, another that involved renaming paint colors (that one got pretty rude actually!).
It was a heck of a raucous week! There were kids who seemed to be permanently covered in paint, two cases of heat exhaustion, a day when everyone seemed to be obsessed with the word ‘butt’, and a very trashed classroom at the end of the week. Frankly, I’m surprised that we managed to clean up all that paint and stay (relatively) sane!! My throat is raw and I’m exhausted, but it was a blast! And I feel as if we have barely scratched the surface of the subject, may have to do another street art camp.
Here are some cool resources:
Books
Stencil 101 – Ed Roth
The Sneaker Coloring Book – D.Jarosch & H.Klingel
City of Angels – Jaskol and Lewis
A Weekend with Diego Riviera – Braun
The Street Art Book – Rik Blackshaw
Sites
http://www.thewynwoodwalls.com/
Parkour Video:
Apps
Taggroo – free app that can be used to find street art near you.
Two more weeks of camp to go! Check back here to find out about weeks four and five.
