Although known for its sports and recreation programs, North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission also has an artistic side.
Its popular art programs for kids and adults run throughout the year, and special programs are designed for spring and summer.
Spring Break camps for kids include two I Love Art Camps for kids ages five to eight, and Art Adventures and Painting Explorations for older kids ages nine to 14.
Instructor Cherie Summers is an accomplished artist with a background in early childhood education, notes art programmer Laura Grant. She has instructed art classes in North Vancouver for more than 10 years.
“She supports the artistic growth in the kids but also makes it fun,” says Grant. “The kids just love her.”
Summers is always coming up with something new, says Grant, and that means kids return to her classes year after year. Although programming at North Vancouver recreation centres changes and refreshes regularly, these art classes have been around for more than five years because they are so popular. Grant says they are essentially introductory-level and so are open to any child who wants to get their hands messy, try new things, have fun, and meet new friends
“I think it’s a great way to express themselves in a different way,” says Grant about why many kids tend to be drawn to art. “A lot of children love colour and brightness and different shapes and textures.”
Harry Jerome Community Centre, where the classes are held, has a designated studio space for the art programs.
Because it’s not a multi-purpose room, kids are free to be creative and messy and don’t have to worry about getting paint on the table, explains Grant.
The I Love Art Camps for younger kids feature a sampling of different art techniques, including painting, collage, papier-maché, printmaking, and more. Grant calls the approach, “art in the bigger picture.”
It’s one of their most popular camps because it’s not focused on any one method of art production and participants get to try a variety of activities, including those they wouldn’t necessarily do in their kitchen at home, says Grant.
Art Adventure Camp for older kids includes neighbourhood exploration in which participants collect different materials to sketch, draw or paint on, such as a piece of wood. Grant says the approach to this class is “taking the outside and bringing it in.” The aim is to help kids get inspired by the outside environment.
During the camps, participants work on both whole-class and individual projects, and Grant says it’s always interesting to see what the kids create as their own unique perspectives and personalities are expressed.
“You can see where the lesson was but they’re all so different still,” she says.
Visit nvrc.ca for more information.
This story originally ran in a special section of the paper focusing on activities for kids.
