Finale!

August 23rd,

It's been an amazing summer at Camp Leo at the Lionville Community YMCA.

With school approaching and projects wrapping up the campers had a finale hurrah working on some of their heroes: Princesses and Ironman.

All of this past week campers were able to paint and design this collaborative Princess dress and Ironman suit, the results of which were exceptional!

In addition to these costumes the Camp Leo Summer Museum was held, and campers were able to show off the group-creations to friends and family!

Thank you all for an amazing summer!

Summer Museum

Repurposed Books

August 12th and 13th, 

VHS, Floppy Disk, CD, all these things have disappeared to allow for DVDs and USBs. With this turnover however we often find opportunity to use things in more creative ways. Camp Leo Campers got to experience this phenomenon yesterday when they created their own picture books: crafted from CD cases. 

In contemporary arts, books and book binding are gaining interest, with gallery's and museums buying works. With all this interest it seemed that it was time for the Campers to find their own way into "modern art".

Each book uses the CD case lining, that area where one use to gleefully read every lyric to a favourite album, as the cover. The actual book pages were made in an "accordian fold" style, meaning that the pages fold out, the way an accordian would.

The Campers loved the idea of making a picture book, and they made story's on everything from mermaids to a fully illustrated history of the Pythagorean Theorem. 

Camp Carnival

August 9th,

Last friday Camp Leo got to experience the annual Carnival! The Lionville Community YMCA gymnasium was transformed with popcorn, games, photo booths, and fun. It was a great end to an awesome week!

Looking for fun Carnival art projects to complete at home? Here are some great examples:

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/circusthemedprojects/a/clownhatcraft.htm
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/zoowildanimals/a/blelecraft2.htm

An awesome blueprint for a perfect Carnival themed birthday or event:
http://www.kidactivities.net/post/circus-and-carnival-theme-for-kids.aspx

Totem Titans Part 3!

July 7th,

Our totem pole installments are almost at an end! With the Camp Leo Jaguars working away this past week we've managed to finish! 

With new wings, paint, and decorations the only thing left is to show it off outside. We will be displaying the totem pole today, Friday, July 9th, please stop by and see! 

There will be one more installment of Totem Titans with extra images and descriptions to come. 

Silver Linings

July 7th,

Today Camp Leo campers got to reinvent the old phrase, "finding a silver lining". The Camp Leo groups were each given a canvas covered in metallic wrapping paper. As a group they came up with an image and idea and began the first step: painting. Once the canvas had been completely covered campers were able to experience the exciting part of the project: etching.

Etching is an art technique where something is taken away. Etching can be seen in furniture design, in prints, and even on walls. For Camp Leo our etchings were created by going back into our paint layers with small styluses, creating new lines of the metallic paper underneath. The designs were shimmering with excitement and abstract ideas. This project is a great way to help a camper understand ideas of negative space, and its an easy one to do at home!

For more information about the blog, future ideas, or great art activities to do on weekends please contact myself, Joshua Fetzer, YMCA Camp Leo Art Coordinator!

Last Weeks Recap!

July 29th- August 2nd,

Camp Leo has been in full swing this week! With so many fun projects we decided to hold off and bring you some pictures all at once! Below are the fun activities the campers participated in and some descriptions, this weeks activities were brought to Camp Leo by the awesome Jackie Faller.

Project 1: For this project we talked about the difference between 2D & 3D art. We then created the illusion of a 3D object projecting itself from a 2D picture plane. We added lots of color for Color Wars week, as well!

Project 2: We discussed the art of Jackson Pollock while creating these fun (and messy!) works of art. We took a spin on traditional splatter paining---using marbles! 

Project 3: In spirit of the campers new favorite movie Monsters Inc, we got to create our very own ink blot monsters! The campers were challenged to use their imagination to create one of a kind creatures. It was really fun to see the kids compare monsters with one another while also making up background stories for each of their creations. 

Project 4: In life, collaboration is key! So for our project on Thursday, we each designed our very own quilt square. We talked about how quilts were made for both function (sleeping, keeping warm) and art as well (creating pictures and patterns.) Once each camper designed their own square using geometric shapes, we mounted them onto one sheet of paper for the whole YMCA to enjoy!

Project 5: This was Friday- So we did something laid back yet still FUN! We talked about the new art of "Zentangles" ---small squares/rectangles of paper that you divide into sections and fill with various patterns. The campers seemed to really enjoy this...they spent the ENTIRE hour working on them!