CAMP JAKE :: Be Part Of The Art

Kellie, the art therapist, surrounded by (left to right) Elisme, Evenson and Mackinson,
some of our sight-impaired friends from St. Vincent's

CAMP JAKE / July 2012 :: With only 3 days left until our team leaves for Port-au-Prince, we wanted to share some of the exciting things in store for our campers this coming week. The focus of this post is creative arts and music.


Art Therapy
Building off the strengths of the January session in which campers created life-size self-portraits on canvas, Kelly--our senior counselor and certified Creative Arts Therapist--will once again direct this portion of the camp. With her outgoing personality, Kelly established a great repore with the campers in January, which will allow her to engage with them in a comforting manner for a new multi-dimensional project. 

Danika (foreground), Oxilus (center) and Clarissian (background) 
working on their life-size self-portraits

In addition to artwork utilizing watercolors and crayons, she plans to introduce sculpture by way of casting each camper's face in plaster. We are more than excited that this activity will not only engage our sighted campers, but also allow the visually-impaired to experience the artwork. Throughout the project, Kelly will compare the multiple masks we wear as humans on a daily basis and the cultural uses for masks. 

Another aspect of creative arts will be card-making. During our trip to St. Vincent's in May, some of the campers expressed their interest in helping to raise money for the camp themselves. They suggested learning to make greeting cards and having The Red Thread Promise sell them to help fund future camps. We have decided to take them up on their offer and engage them in the building of Camp Jake! Stay tuned for the opportunity to purchase some of the camper's artwork.

Some of Sonya's Zentangles

Finally, Sonya plans to introduce the art of Zentangle to campers. According to the originators of this unique art form, "Zentangle is a fun and relaxing way of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns that nearly anyone can do. It increases focus and creativity while providing artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being." Designs are created on small pieces of watercolor paper with a simple pencil, pen and smudge stick. We look forward to sharing these mini-masterpieces with you!


Music
Following the January session, we realized how intregal music is in the lives of many of our campers, especially the sight-impaired. Those campers were drawn to any sort of music on the campsite and relished the times when a radio was available. We discovered that even the deaf children thoroughly enjoyed music, as they are able to feel vibrations and dance to visual sound. They felt compelled to move to their own beat, one of our fondest memories of the January session.

Counselors Caroline, Andrew and Casey all bring a wealth of music knowledge and experience to Camp Jake. Their passion for music is infectious and we know the campers will love them! The trio will offer various activities that include singing and using musical instruments, some of which may be foreign to the campers. 

And, of course, we'll be bringing along the video camera to catch some of this music so we can share it with you.

Yes, we still need your help! If you are interested in contributing to the art programs or any part of Camp Jake, donations can be made via check or online. Please be sure to mark the memo line with "Camp Jake". For electronic donations, please use the PayPal button located on the right sidebar. If you prefer snail mail, our mailing address is at the top of the page on the right. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Thank you!