Arts Alive organizers want to take children on a creative excursion into the world of art.
The annual summer camp starts Monday (July 8) and runs until July 26. The main focus of Arts Alive is young children but there are also courses for older teens and adults.
When the organization was created 28 years ago there weren’t many opportunities for children to get involved in arts activities in the summer, but that has changed over the years, said Michael Wright, Arts Alive administrator.
The focus is fun.
“You don’t have to turn out a perfect piece of art it’s not a pressured environment. It’s about having fun,” said Wright.
He believes it’s absolutely essential that kids get exposure to the arts. Wright said he doesn’t know where he would be if he wasn’t exposed to art at an early age. He was introduced to music when he was two years old and he plays jazz and big band music. He is also involved in a number of artistic organizations in the community.
This year the organization is introducing bundling. It allows families to register children for morning and afternoon courses so they are at camp a full day.
Wright said Arts Alive listened to parent’s concern about not being able to register children if courses were only half a day.
“This was done specifically to respond to parent’s requests,” said Wright. “We put in a lot of effort to make courses longer or alternatively bundling them.”
Week one courses are Monday (July 8) to July 12. Week two courses are July 15-19. Week three courses are July 22-26. The organization also offers day camps. Courses include watercolours, mixed media, musical theatre, guitar basics, singing essentials and others.
For more information about courses please go to http://nanaimoartsalive.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
