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Art campers use two or three media to create their art: watercolor, papier-mâché, clay, plaster, even toilet paper tubes. At the end of their camping week, each camper will have a three-dimensional piece and two two-dimensional pieces.
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Where Are the Trees?
One camper wondered, “But when are we going to the woods?” It’s not that kind of camp. Exploration is a cornerstone of the summer camp experience, and this camp is all about exploring art!
These art explorers gather by age in sometimes messy groups, venturing not into the woods but to the techniques and results of famous artists. Campers use two or three media to create their art: watercolor, papier-mâché, clay, plaster, even toilet paper tubes. At the end of their camping week, each camper will have a three-dimensional piece and two two-dimensional pieces.
The complexity of the projects is related to age (and attention span), from the youngest campers, age five, to the oldest campers, age thirteen. There is always a concept for the week, such as diversity or nature. One group compared Egypt to pop art and, for their final project, made and painted plaster masks. Indeed, sometimes, there are trees—but they are probably made out of those toilet paper tubes!
In past sessions, campers have made tree houses and two-point-perspective drawings, clay shoes, and Salvador Dali-style surreal ‘drippy drawings.’
Who’s running this show? Richmond County art teacher Sally Clements directs the summer art camp experience, located upstairs at Clements Tents in Warsaw. Sally has been teaching art at Rappahannock High School and Richmond County Middle School for twelve years. She studied at James Madison University, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design. After further study at Virginia Commonwealth University, she received a second BFA in art education pre-K–12.
Art Campers come from all over: Richmond, Essex, King William, Hanover, and Westmoreland counties, and the city of Portsmouth. They range in age from five to thirteen and represent public schools, home schools, and private schools. Some spend a week or so with their grandparents and enjoy the Art Camp experience from nine until noon before heading home or to gramma’s house for fun on the river or at the pool in the afternoons. Art Camp welcomes its fourth season of campers this summer. Some have come every year and enjoy reconnecting with the campers they met in prior summers.
One thing that sets this art camp experience apart from art in school is the daily three-hour sessions. Campers can get a lot of work done on their projects and not worry about time restraints. The small groups “can be a little messier,” according to Sally, and there are no tests. Also, they get to call their teacher by her first name!
What will their projects be this year? “I surprise them each year,” Sally says, “but there will be painting, drawing, maybe some perspective drawing and collage. They’ll have three or four pieces by the end of the week.”
In addition to teaching art for Richmond County Public Schools, Sally teaches photography in the summer Regional Governor’s School Program. This past winter Sally began offering paint nights where each of her adult students completes an acrylic painting during an evening group class. And she is producing a weekly blog, entitled Modern Minnie, featuring home design ideas (https://modernminniedesign.wordpress.com).
To learn more, contact: Sally Clements • 804-690-7992 • sally_clements@yahoo.com
