The End of Summer Spree 2010

Summer Spree 2010; a summer program whose motto holds truth in saying 'the sky's the limit.' Indeed, CAC campers proved there is no limit to how far creative ideas, imaginations, and inspirations can possibly go, and, particularly for this summer, grow. Throughout the Summer, the outdoor surroundings of the Community Arts Center became even more beautified with the work of each and every individual camper that was a part of Summer Spree. After just the first week, a long line of print makings were hung outside where a garden was later soon developed; in just a few weeks after that, an enchanting dragon blowing magical inspirational bubbles was created and installed just right outside of the kitchen; soon after, a humming bird garden was planted and accompanied by bird feeders that attracted gorgeous butterflies and birds of all kinds. In the final session of Summer Spree 2010, Bob Deane and Drew Arata joined forces to make the Secret Garden area an even more enchanting place for friends to enjoy with an archway. Bob, Drew, and our campers produced not just any archway in the Secret Garden, but an archway full of one-of-a-kind tiles, as well as the natural twigs and branches that lay nearby. Check it out:

[ Painting a personal tile ]

[ Yellow to mellow the tile ]

[ Serious about glazing ]

[ Drew assists in shaping the tiles ]

[ High-fives from Drew for a job well done ]

[ Bob Deane assists in sticking the tile to the cement with mastek ]

[ One row of tiles: complete ]

[ The arch progresses ]

[ Individual tiles ]

[ Campers hanging out in the Secret garden ]

[ The Archway ]

I believe the following picture below depicts what the final session of Summer Spree brought together; through the Community Art Center's natural beauty, our campers were able to build upon what nature presented with their own creative work to not only serve as something to please the eye, but also to serve as a place for a community to take a break, sit, inspire, and create:

Though Summer Spree 2010 has come to an end, we hope these projects brought forth inspirations for children and teens to continue to artistically create and grow. We know for certain that one project in particular will continue to grow over the next year, and that is within the Secret Garden(For more details, check The Children's Committee on our website. ) From this year's Summer Spree, creations of originality and ideas of brilliance were bounced between campers, faculty, and staff, some that will forever remain within the stone of the Community Arts Center, and some that are meant to be spread among our community. In closing: may your tie-dye tees shine bright, and your creative spirit soar in the new school year. 

It's Tile Time!

This week begins Session five at Summer Spree, and that means it's Tile Time! This session features a workshop in creating Tiles with Bob Deane. CAC Summer Spree campers have been creating their own individual tiles out of clay, as well as tiles for the new archway that will be in the Secret Garden. Take a peek at all of the hard work campers have done in the first steps in creating their tiles, which involved rolling out clay, shaping the clay into squares, and carving their own original designs. 

[ Bob shows campers the soon to be tiled archway ]

[ Drew is back! Here, Drew is giving campers the chance to touch the clay ]

[ Campers carving their clay ]

[ The clay being used this session is left over clay that was made last year by campers in Bob Deane's clay making workshop]

[ Carving a unique design ]

[ Rolling out the clay ]

[ Giving the tile some shape ]

[ All done with carving for the day! ]

The Children's Committee and their Grand Plan for the Secret Garden

>On Friday, July 30, 2010, the newly formed Children's Committee presented their ideas to Executive director, Debby Yoder, as well as several other staff members at the Community Arts Center. Founded by campers of Session Four at Summer Spree including Brooke DiPietro, Kaelyn Cooper, Ella Kane, Andrew Spangler and Sarah Spangler, the Children's Committee were recently inspired with several creative ideas while expanding on the Secret Garden with Summer Spree fellow, Nancy Long. 

[ The Children's Committee; from left to right: Ella, Kaelyn, Andrew and Sarah ]

The Children's Committee presented their plans, which included an Introduction by Andrew Spangler, an explanation on creating a Storytelling area, as well as details on installing a fountain and birdbath by Kaelyn, Ella, and Sarah. In addition, the committee discussed the birdbath and fountain being run by solar energy and will soon be talking with solar energy providers in order to make this Secret Garden the greenest it can possible be.  Furthermore, the Children's Committee discussed this Grand plan as a long-term project; at the end of Summer Spree 2010, the CAC will issue an invitation to all children who took part in this year's program to join the CAC Children's Committee. They proposed this committee to meet the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m until noon. There will be no cost to members of this group, but children must register to participate.

[Andrew explains his vision of expanding the Secret Garden ]

[Ella and Kaelyn present on installing a fountain and birdbath ]

[ Ella shares a model of the storytelling area of the Secret Garden (designed by Kaelyn) with Mr. Carpenter, a supportive funder of the CAC ]

[ Kaelyn and Ella ]

Thereafter, the Children's Committee led the meeting on a tour of the Secret Garden. 

 The Children's Committee will consider other ways this group can be part of the Community Arts Center, including developing a plan to sell children's art at the Art Center's Holiday Sale to raise funds in support of their projects. The unveiling and completed Grand plan for the Secret Garden is currently set for Saturday, June 11th, 2011, and will feature a tea party in the garden. 

[ Ella and her sister share their projects with their Mom by the Secret Garden ]

It is very exciting to see these wonderful ideas that were just inspirationally sparked last week (see Path Cleared, Flowers Planted; Bring on the Birds! for original sketch of initial ideas by Andrew Spangler) being developed and executed into a reality by our very own campers. We are all looking forward to seeing the progress over the next few months. Just this week, the Secret Garden will be expanded on further with Session five's featured Tile Workshop with Bob Deane, as campers will be creating their own tiles and helping to create an archway within the Secret Garden (see Digging with Bob Deane). 

On Butterfly Watch

>Check out one of the many butterflies observed yesterday in the garden Nancy and Summer Spree campers planted last week:

Bird feeders and Butterflies

>Today, CAC Summer Spree campers completed bird feeders made out of recycled materials. Previously this week, campers created the base of the bird feeder by gluing small water bottles filled with sunflower seeds to plastic plates. Our good friend, Ammar, helped in drilling holes in the bottles where a wooden dowel was placed, which gives the birds a place to perch and peck at the the food. Today, summer spree campers collected "treasures" to paste onto the roofs of their bird feeders, giving each an authentic, natural look. 

[ Box full of treasures ]

[ Pasting on the delicate treasures ]

[ A very special treasure ]

[ A spiky treasure ]

[ The base of the bird feeders ]

[ Complete! ]

[ Check out the Orange group's incredible bird feeders! ]

[ A butterfly in the garden we planted last week ]

Sketching the Sights

>The turquoise group took the time to appreciate the hard work they put forth in expanding the secret garden area as they not only observed all of it's natural enchantment, but sat down with a pencil and sketch pad in hand to draw this area, and will later fill in with water colors to create landscape paintings. Take a look!

[ Sketching the humming bird garden ]

[ Studying the surroundings of the humming bird garden ]

[ Drawing different angles of the water tower ]

[ Water tower sketch ]

[ Drawing the details ]

[ Taking it all in ]

[ Even Pat takes the time to sketch the brand new path the turquoise group helped to create last week ]