Description
Hurrah, it’s summer art camp time!
Each of our sweet summer art camp week has a different creative, joyful theme.
Sticks + Mud: building + painting
June 14, 15, 16 (ages 5 – 10)
Play meets art while we create with all natural materials including: mud paint, charcoal, fruits + veggies, spices, mud kitchen, sticks, and more, children will explore art-making methods through the lens of nature. We will integrate a fun nature project with collaborative mandala making, plus make our own painting brushes, journals/books, sculptures and paint jar kits to take home – creating our own “natural art tool box”. Bookmaking inspired by artist John Cage’s “Mud Book” we will make books and more.
Over + Under: weaving together
June 21, 22, 23 (ages 5 – 10)
Weaving as a craft and creative process we do individually and collectively is one of our favorite crafts. We will look at the work of contemporary Maine artists who integrate weaving and different woven processes into their work. Children will be able to do different weaving on different structures and dive a bit into the field of “material studies” as we experiment with matter and material to overlap and build with. We will work on one larger collaborative weaving as well as have individual works of our own.
Ocean love: all water (younger kids)
June 28, 29, 30 (4 – 8, ½ day)
Did you know the studio overlooks (a slice of!) the bay and the ocean?! Seagulls can be seen from our window and salty air is a part of our environment. In this camp, children will paint, plan, draw and build! As young architects, we will create some fun boats (and try to get them to float!) out of wood and recycled materials. We will be learning about the life and health of our ocean, and participate in a mini collaborative project. Our funky hand-made boats will be fun to play and float all summer, and the creative work we do meeting art with ecology supports our artists minds to be stewards of the earth.
Social Fabric: weaving + art for older kids
July 1, 2 (age 8 – 14)
Weaving as a craft and creative process we do individually and collectively is one of our favorite crafts. We will look at the work of contemporary Maine artists who integrate weaving and different woven processes into their work. Children will be able to do different weaving on different structures and dive a bit into the field of “material studies” as we experiment with matter and material to overlap and build with. We will work on one larger collaborative weaving as well as have individual works of our own. We will study more closely the work of contemporary artists who integrate textile into social practice, working with what we call the social fabric.
Ocean love: all water (plus boats)
July 5, 6, 7 (ages 5 – 10)
Did you know the studio overlooks (a slice of!) the bay and the ocean?! Seagulls can be seen from our window and salty air is a part of our environment. In this camp, children will paint, plan, draw and build! As young architects, we will create some fun boats (and try to get them to float!) out of wood and recycled materials. We will be learning about the life and health of our ocean, and participate in a mini collaborative project. Our funky hand-made boats will be fun to play and float all summer, and the creative work we do meeting art with ecology supports our artists minds to be stewards of the earth.
Fashion: dolls, community + me
July 26, 27, 28 (ages 5 – 10)
This fun camp will explore textile and fashion design! Using 2-d mediums like drawing and collage to design as fashion illustrators, we will make study/sketch idea books, art, and then use different methods to print and design our own cloth, even bringing in a recycled shirt/dress to transform, then turn our cloth into real creations – for our dolls and some accessories for ourselves too. For this camp, please bring your favorite doll so we can support them with new fashion! We will take our dolls on some outside adventures to the park, plus each child will have a fun little handmade suitcase/wardrobe box to take home and play with for hours all summer long. At the end of this camp, we will do a little “fashion show”!
Jam it up: music + art
Aug 2, 3, 4 (ages 5 – 10)
Collaborative Guest Teaching musician Emilia Dahlin
We will merge art + music, we will work in all mediums for this special workshop. A song can be an affirmation, a way to support ourselves by hearing just the right messages we need to move through a tough time or to inspire us! Collaboratively and individually, we’ll write a song for ourselves. What are the songs that inspire you? The song that makes you want to dance or help you through a challenging time? Using a multi-step process, we’ll weave together writing, melodies, and music to craft a song that’s entirely authored by YOU with accompaniment provided by
Telling Stories: books (younger kids)
Aug 9, 10, 11 (4 – 8, ½ day)
As young authors and illustrators in this fun camp, children will create individual and collaborative books (we will publish our own in the studio!). Imagine graphic comic books, cookbooks, and alphabet books. We will also explore multiple kinds of bookmarking binding and methods, and respond to the interests of the group, as we write and illustrate a story about who we are and the world around us (a story can be just pictures too!). We will explore various 2-d methods as part of this. Super fun for all ages.
Telling Stories: books, comics, 2-d
Aug 12, 13 (age 8 – 14)
As young authors and illustrators in this fun camp, children will create individual and collaborative books (we will publish our own in the studio!). Imagine graphic comic books, cookbooks, and alphabet books. We will also explore multiple kinds of bookmarking binding and methods, and respond to the interests of the group, as we write and illustrate a story about who we are and the world around us (a story can be just pictures too!). We will explore various 2-d methods as part of this. Super fun for all ages.
Public Art + Pop up Shop
Aug 23, 24, 25 (ages 5 – 10)
In this fun, funky, activist and entrepreneurial camp, children will work collaboratively on co-creating a shop, public art and individually on items for the shop and to take home. This collaborative camp will be busy! We will also explore and learn more about money/currency (and make our own) and integrate ideas around reciprocity and creating a little business to make the world better. We will get the chance to work on proposals, models, plans and dreams of possibilities that will also inspire our young artists to be future agents of change.
what
Each camp has an innovative, funky and fun, project-based curriculum that we adjust slightly to the energy and members of the group. Our projects are influenced by nature, and contemporary/historical artists and change makers. Specific books will be carefully curated to align with the themes of each week, with thoughtful, caring discussions, playful games, nurturing fun yoga, some singing and play interwoven into each day. All materials are high quality, sustainably and mindfully chosen–recycled/repurposed or ethically made. Each day, a different art process in the studio greets the children and launches our work together!
Besides the fun thematic projects, we will weave in choice time to paint on easels, play, and always deep and fun project work. Our creative teaching approach is inquiry-based, responsive, and we support and respect the curiosity and imagination of the young child.
who
We welcome and celebrate a group of mixed-age children. Camps welcome children ages 5 – 14 (with a couple of special offerings for our 4-year-old friends!) Teachers include: Lead teacher organizer Christina Bechstein, with visiting teachers and assistants. We are a unique team, each of having diverse, highly skilled and certified training and experience in art education, for instance: Columbia Teachers College Reading and Writing Program, Reggio Emilia, Public School, Waldorf inspired/trained, advanced degrees, service learning, college teaching experience, contemporary art education pedagogy of all kinds and more. For each camp, we will have a special visitor to show us their “art” in the world. Caring, skilled assistants are also integrated into our studio community. For Summer 2021 Art Camps, we are working hard to create a safe yet joyful and fun environment for the children.
some of our values
We work to craft, reflect and put into action our values that are focused on respecting the individual child, and creating projects and processes that are responsive to each studio group. We weave books in every day that are directed towards opening our minds to be deeply caring and embracing of the diversity of humans. Other values include:
* The whole child: social & emotional development, inclusion within a deeply caring and welcoming community
* Child as a communicator + poet: language development through participation, listening, art
* Child as co-creator: project-based, hands-on, individual learning and collaboration
* Child as artist: centering arts, creativity + imagination in all we do
* Child as informed citizen: community member, global + ecological participant. We care for each other, and develop our ability to
when + pricing:
Our full-day camp run: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 9 am – 3 pm.
Our ½ camps run: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 9 am – 12pm.
Each camp costs $240 for 3 day camps, $160 for 2 day camps,
and $120 for (3) ½ day camps 9am – 12pm.
The price includes all the amazing materials and 3 teachers!
waiting list:
Please view our contact form on our contact page and submit your camp week choices if you would like to be on our waiting list.
Cancellation policy
If Love Lab Studio needs to cancel for any reason, we will give the following options to families: full refund less 10% processing, gift card, or credit for future classes.
If families need to cancel for any reason, we will allow up to 14 days notice before camp starts and can refund less a 20% processing fee. If cancelation occurs within the 14 day period, no refunds are available. If possible, we can also try and reschedule you for a different camp week and will work hard to do that!
other details
For the safety and health for all, we will have a robust Covid process, we will need everyone to adhere to in order to have a safe community. We feel confident we can pull it off, and our teachers have been teaching all year so have our processes down. We will be sending information about this over the spring.
We will also be sending a detailed list of all the items needed for camp. The list will be different from past years so we are fine-tuning it.
Prior to starting class, each student caregiver must sign waivers, plus other important info). We will be sending that out as well.
our space
Our space is fun and joyful, bright and renovated, known as Love Lab Studio. The design is thoughtfully curated for the needs of the children. We are located at 26 Brackett Street, a mixed residential and retail neighborhood in the West End of Portland, at the edge of a beautiful park and playground and a nearby urban food forest. This year, our camp will happen both inside our studio (with windows open, ceiling fans and 3 Hepa filters on) and outside in our temporary outside studio patio garden we are renovating this spring and local neighborhood walks.
