CHILDREN interested in painting, fairy tales, monsters, and art that's too big for twodimensions might be interested in the spring break art camps at Maplewood House.
"It's a great opportunity to get to work with artists," said Claire Halpern, arts community coordinator for North Vancouver. "We hire artists that have a history of teaching."
Maplewood House is scheduled to host four week-long camps from March 12 to 16 and March 19 to 23 featuring traditional artistic instruction in the morning and innovative ideas in the afternoon.
"The morning is more 2D art, they're going to be drawing and painting and going over different artists' styles, like Picasso," Halpern said. "The afternoon is a bit more rambunctious and about creating. They're going to be doing lots of stuff with monsters and learning how to make art out of recycled material."
The one-week camps cost $125 for a half-day course and $250 for a full day course.
The camps are for children between the ages of six and 10.
Among the courses offered this year is Maché and Mosaics, which is taught by North Shore artist Maureen Coles.
"This is the first time we've offered this class so we're excited about it," Halpern said.
"They're going to be able to grab the ceramics, safely of course, but smash them and create any type of mosaic that they want on wood panels, and then they get to take it home."
Coles came up with the idea, something that typifies the Maplewood House art camps.
"We hire artists that can teach and we let them come up with the ideas," Halpern said. "Maureen Coles has been teaching in the North Shore for awhile, and she wanted to do this, so I said, 'that sounds wonderful.'"
Children with a flair for theatre might consider the Art and Drama camp, where children choose a play, usually based on a fairy tale, and then create a set and props.
"At the end of the week they'll have created a short little play. And they'll have created the backdrops and everything that goes along with it," Halpern said. "They're learning how to do 3D art and painting techniques."
The camps are based on process more than outcome according to Halpern.
"It's about learning to use the left side of your brain, and learning to use your imagination when you're creating stuff, and learning certain techniques and just having fun."
The camps also include Artist Adventure, where children learn the finer points of mixing paints, as well as 3D Art Explosion.
Interested families can get more information at www.nvartscouncil.ca or calling 604-988-6844.
