SUMMER ART ENRICHMENT
The Kent Historical Society offered three weeks of Art Enrichment Programs for children in July 2015. Morning sessions had children exploring color through fine art in a variety of mediums and then focused on drawing. The afternoon sessions delved into painting.
The Historical Society wants to foster arts education for young people in our area to honor the memory of George Laurence Nelson, a pre-eminent 20th Century artist known for his portraits, landscapes and florals, who lived at Seven Hearths for many years and bequeathed his 18th century home to the Kent Historical Society to operate as a museum.
KHS believes that arts education and other forms of cultural enrichment are essential to a young person’s whole and healthy development. The Society offers Summer Arts Enrichment to encourage children’s innate creativity and boost creative thinking and problem solving, while expanding their experience and appreciation of the arts.
Classes took place in the Kent Historical Society’s “Art Barn,” an indoor/outdoor space on the campus of the Historical Society’s Seven Hearths property, facing gardens and a woodland that is used as extended classroom space. At the culmination of each class there was an exhibition to allow parents and family to see all of the creations completed through the week. On that day, the museum was open to view the exhibition at the time “Camps of Kent.”
KHS member families have priority registration and discounted fees. Join as a Family member for $35.
COLOR SPLASH I ~ Art instructor Cheryl Moore returned to KHS’ Summer Art Enrichment program to focus on color. Moore is a respected artist and a 33-year teacher, who knows how to draw out artistic talents from her students. She is chairman of the Art Department at South Kent School and has offered a number of special workshops for younger children over the years. The KHS sessions focused on exploring color through painting. The projects included “Swipe Art” that involves using a limited palette of color dots that are swirled together to create unique images; “Underwater Watercolor” which uses a technique that involves alcohol to create water bubbles; watercolor abstract flowers were painted; leaf prints were created using large leaves; and dot painting was employed using a technique similar to that used by renowned artist Vance Kirkland.
Color Splash II – This week was also led by Cheryl Moore and was dedicated to exploring mixed media with a variety of materials, including recyclable papers, and featured painting with watercolor and some acrylic paints. She exposed the young artists to a variety of artistic styles, cultural interpretations, and mediums. Some of the projects were a mixed media self-portrait, tissue paper collage flowers, a landscape using recycled materials, fish prints using the Gyotaku style, and several watercolor paintings.
Drawing –This drawing class was led by Andy Richards, who is a native of Kent and currently the chairman of the Visual Arts Department at The Gunnery School in Washington. He instructed students in drawing as a way to explore their creativity and use their imagination. Exploring one’s ideas visually with drawing is a wonderful way to communicate and share a vision. The central idea was for students to have fun and learn that drawing and the visual arts are a positive learning experience. Students worked with pencil, markers, charcoal and pastel on paper, learning techniques for each and worked on an exercise that involved drawing their favorite place – anything from a house, a room or even a treehouse. Pastels allowed students to work with color and see how different colors can affect the mood of the drawing.
Painting –Painting can be a lifelong activity, whether as a professional or as a hobbyist. Learning about color and the wonderful effect it has on people can help guide your painting process. Andy Richards lead this program as well, and covered the Principles of Design and the Elements of Design with the idea that knowledge of these will help the student to understand how to take his or her imagination and put it onto canvas. Students started with watercolors and moved on to working with acrylics. One of the projects was an exercise that involved splattering paint and then looking for creatures that can be developed from the shapes created by the splatters.
KHS expects to offer this program again in Summer 2016.