National “Treasures”

            National “Treasures”

            June 11^th-12^th

            Today in art class we began a two day project related to this week’s YMCA Summer Camp Theme: National Treasure. Before we started class we sat down to talk about one of the United States national treasures, namely street art. Modern graffiti and street art began in Philadelphia, gaining popularity and becoming the worldwide phenomenon we see today. Graffiti isn’t always the most “welcome” of artworks, however, so we talked about the distinction between graffiti and it’s legal cousin, street art.

            Street art is a legal form of graffiti supported by the owner of the property. The murals at the Philadelphia Zoo are street art, in fact all of the 3,500 plus murals that Philadelphia hosts are street art as well. Even some graffiti can be street art (if commissioned by the owner of course).

The campers were wildly excited to be able to do their own form of street art. Each group was provided with a blank brick “wall” made out of cardboard. We wanted to take this opportunity of large expression to remind the campers of the camp value of teamwork and the four YMCA core values: Caring, Honesty, Respect, and Responsibility. Each group got one phrase, and soon everyone had to learn how to work together as a team to design, paint, and complete their street art piece.

Even the youngest campers, namely the Panthers, got involved. After discussing what each of these values meant they agreed to be Caring, Honest, Respectful, and Responsible all summer long. To show this each of the Panthers traced their hand onto the wall and decorated their individual mark. Together they made an impressive piece.

Check out the outstanding works below:

Want to see some of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program? Or find out more about the movement of street art? Some helpful links are below!

http://muralarts.org/

http://muralarts.org/tour This is an awesome tour through Philadelphia's beautiful murals! For more information and how to find a free version of the tour feel free to contact the YMCA Summer Arts Coordinator.