Our tag line for the summer is creativity starts here.  After a successful two weeks of "Explore the Arts" camp, the art center has EXPLODED with young actors, dancers, and artists! This group of campers is at Laura's Center for the Arts Monday through Friday for a full two weeks, creating, laughing, and learning.  

Creative Kids art camp has been working diligently, reprising the papier-mâché turtle project, working on individual projects, and creating really cool self portraits!  Campers took initiative to come up with new and interesting concepts and making their projects their own!

Dance camp has been working on learning choreography for "Happy" and "Holding Out for a Hero".  The high energy numbers have resulted in hours of smiles and laughs!  The campers also have been working as a group to choreograph "Applause" as a group! 

Theatre camp is well under way with its production of Cinderella!  The campers all learned about how to audition, and recieved their roles! It is a great sight to see a group of thirty youth cheer and clap for each other, even when for those who got the role that they wanted! The music and blocking we have been working on looks and sounds amazing already!

We are gearing up for a performance of percussion after a successful first week of our summer concert series with the Plymouth Philharmonic. For our second week, we invite the younger guests to come a little early and create some home made instruments! Below are some ideas, so feel free to make some at home before the performance, or join us to make some at 6 PM on Wednesday, July 9th!



Why not start with these great crocodile clickers? Click here for a link to the original post! 

Clickers not your style? Follow this link for detailed instructions on making shakers out of recycled bottles and rice! This project involves a lot of supplies, but don't be afraid to get creative! If you shake it and it makes a fun noise, you've done a great job!

These little guys are homemade lamellophones or finger pianos. Who doesn't have a ton of extra bobby pins hanging around? This is a great chance to explore how different materials make different noises! More detailed instructions after the jump! 

So get your instruments ready, and join us for an interactive concert of percussion by the Plymouth Phil at Laura's Center for the Arts this Wednesday at 6:30 (interactive activities and seating start at 6)

Laura's Center for the Arts kicked off our summer camp season with "Explore the Arts" camp.  This camp allowed campers the freedom to choose between a performance workshop, working on Green Eggs and Ham from Seussical, learning several ways to make a monster from Beth Gilmore, or learning how we design and paint our sets for our upcoming theatre camp productions.  In addition to their normal classes we took two days to bring in professional artists to run workshops with the campers. 

Tuesday we had the incomparable Maggie MaClellan, a local artist, working on papier-mâché with the kids.  She brought in pre-made turtle shells, created using recycled newspaper and masking tape, and taught the campers her process of sculpting the newspaper and wrapping it in the tape, creating the arms, legs, tail, and head.  They then covered the turtle forms in paper we had decorated earlier in the morning.  Even the most squeemish campers eventually got used to "the goo" and we ended up with a menagerie of turtles, some looking like they had been hit  by a graffiti artist, and some modeled after Maggie's own creation, wrapped in old bits of map. 

Turtles created by the campers!

On Thursday we were visited by Brent Beissel from the Bosse School of Music.  Brent spent a few hours teaching the basics of rhythmic notation with the campers.  He gave them all a chance to experience different types of drums, shakers, bangers, and things that go bump in the orchestra! The campers left that day knowing a lot more about how to count their Tas and TiTis than most adults!!
 

More information about Maggie and her works can found here

More information about the Bosse School of Music can be found here

As an employee at the Y, impact is a word we hear a lot.  Whether we are focused on what impact we can have, being praised for the impact that we have had, or feeling the impact that our members and coworkers have had on us, it is the core what makes our programming what it is.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Sollar Wellness Center at New England Villages.  New England Villages offers both residential and day programs for adults with intellectual disabilities, and welcomed us with open arms to observe their programs.  I sat in on a music class one day and an art class on my next visit.  Believe me when I say that I have witnessed some of the most impactful programming out there.

One of the goals of the Fine and Performing Arts department is to create an inclusive environment, and through observing these classes I know we are an enormous step closer to making that goal a reality.  I was able to help someone paint Popsicle sticks, and meet Elvis/Fred/Prince Charles, he had many names throughout the course of the class but ultimately I made a new friend. 

Seeing the staff and the arts program participants at New England Villages really opened my eyes to a community that many people in our society do not understand.  It was beautiful seeing these staff interact with their students, whether it was a joke, a moment of encouragement, and moment of support, or just a shared moment of bliss.

In the end, I got to create some art with people who felt the impact that art had on them, but more importantly, I met some people who have mastered the art of making an impact.

Brayden and Kristen, in the Multipurpose Room after class

Anyone who has been to Laura's Center for the Arts on a Monday morning has probably had the chance to meet Brayden Hum.  This energetic and friendly little guy is a regular for the Monday morning Music and Me class with his mom, Kristen Stewart.  Kristen has worked for the Y for a number of years, over at what Brayden refers to as "Mommy's Y" or the main branch here at the Emilson Y, but Brayden joins us over here at the LCA, which he has cutely dubbed "Tyler's Y".

I got a chance to sit down and talk with Brayden and Kristen a bit about what they've been doing at Tyler's Y...I mean the LCA. Brayden asked a lot of questions, as he usually does, so it was a fun chance to get sit and talk to him!

Kristen and Brayden have participated in Music and Me as well as our Toddler Art class.  Kristen felt that it was important to expose Brayden to a variety of things, and music was one that she felt was not her forte, so they signed up for music class, and Brayden had such a good connection that they have been signing up ever since!

Brayden's favorite part of class is when we sing "I Saw a Little Bunny", a simple finger play that proves a challenge for the fine motor skills of the class, but as we progress we get more and more two finger bunnies! Kristen's favorite part of class is when Brayden, who is often quieter in class, sings the songs at home "just like Tyler".  The repetition of the class is designed just for that purpose, to teach the students (and parents) songs and music games they can do at home!

Brayden loves to help clean up! He's a great helper!

In the future Kristen would like to see us running programs that include literature incorporated into the program, much in the way that it had been in Toddler Art and in the way that we do in Musical Mavericks, and to see us taking some of our classes onto the outdoor stage as the weather gets nicer.  Coming to work to dance and sing songs outside...? I like the sound of that!

Kristen loves the space and the artwork that changes on a monthly basis, allowing her and Brayden to be exposed to things that they otherwise wouldn't.  So come on over and check out what we have going on at Laura's Center for the Arts, and if you're here on Monday morning, be ready for Brayden to ask you questions!

As a staff member in the Fine and Performing Arts department at the Emilson Y, I always take pride in the programming we offer, whether I am involved in said program or not. Recently I had the amazing opportunity to participate in a Cork and Canvas event offered by our Fine Arts Coordinator, Beth Gilmore, and I was simply blown away.

Having known Beth for a number of years, and even sharing an office since the opening of Laura's Center for the Arts about a year ago, I knew that Beth was both an accomplished artists and a thoughtful, articulate educator. Having seen her working with the campers, students and community members that participate in our classes and events I thought I knew what it would be like to be on the other side. My expectations were far exceeded.

If you are unfamiliar with our Cork and Canvas events, the basic idea is wine and painting.  The instructor walks the class through recreating an original painting step by step. I do not have any painting ability and I certainly didn't leave with a museum worthy work, but let me tell you, my mother wants in hanging in her living room! 

During our first break to allow the paint to dry!

One of the most amazing things was walking around and seeing the way the other people in the class interpreted the same instruction. There was no pressure to be right, and when that pressure was eliminated it made it easy to sit back, enjoy a glass of wine, and have a blast.  Beth's cheesy jokes and effortlessly casual demeanor made it feel like everyone in the room had known each other for years, providing the perfect environment to allow our muses to mingle.

The finished product

It was amazing to be on the other side of a class, especially with someone who I have spent so much time working and growing with.  We even had a chance to snap a great picture.

It MAY be good enough for a museum...What do you think?