Mattatuck To Offer Summer Art And Theater Camps

WATERBURY — Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center will offer a wide range of art and theater day camps this summer, beginning June 27 and continuing through August 11.

Art camps are led by professional artists who explore different themes each week. They feature games to make new friends, a mid-morning break, outdoor time on the playground, a supervised lunch, and community activities on the Waterbury green, combined with painting, drawing and performing.

Art camps explore a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media and drawing. Half day and full day workshops are designed for ages 8 through 12 and will appeal to many interests and abilities.

Art camp sessions will include:

*June 26-30: “Medieval Enchantment” with Rosanne Shea, 9 am to noon and/or 1 to 4 pm. Campers will construct their own mini fortresses, complete with moats, turrets and courts of characters to populate them. They will use painting, sculpture and more to build their castles and to design the clothing ad accessories of castle life.

*July 3-7: “Paint like the Masters” with Megan Lonegan, 9 am to noon. Students will discover the world of painting from self-portraits to abstract art by exploring color, style, and technique through paintings by artists like Monet, van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse and Picasso.

*July 3-7: “Stupendous Sculptures” with Megan Lonegan, 1 to 4 pm. Learn about the famous sculptures created by Michelangelo, Rodin, and Nevelson, view works from the museum’s collection and experiment with varied materials, mediums, space and design to create their own sculptures.

*July 10-14: “World Beat Art” with Anny Carr, 9 am to noon. Students will explore the rich cultures and heritage of Africa, Mexico, Australia and the Americas, and will create rain sticks, Aztee sun mobiles, paintings with yarn, colorful printmaking projects and more.

*July 17-21: “Magical Myths” with Linda Northrup, 9 am to noon. Campers will listen to stories about Greek gods and goddesses, dress up to read scenes from the comedy play Mythological Mischief, paint, or sculpt their favorite gods and goddesses, and share their creations on the last day.

*July 24-28: “Art Journey” with Beatriz Beckford, 9 am to noon. Participants will learn the customs, colors and crafts of different countries and will create beautiful projects from South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe using diverse materials such as clay, weaving, beads, and paint.

*July 24-28: “Eco-Arts” with Beatriz Beckford, 1 to 4 pm. Students will learn how to blend and use the natural things in their environment to create art, including pressed flower collages, still-life paintings, terrariums, birdhouses, pottery, and tie dye.

*July 31-August 4: “Painting Daze” with Catharine Balco, 9 am to noon and/or 1 to 4 pm. Students will paint masterpieces, large and small, in a variety of styles and mediums including landscapes, portraits, abstract pieces, and more. The class will culminate in an art show on the green.

*August 7-11: “Nature Abstract” with Lorraine West, 9 am to noon. Campers will explore the great outdoors and express the movement of nature by abstracting the elements of earth and sky through art. They will use a variety of mediums that include paper, watercolor, pencil, pastel an acrylic paint.

*August 7-11: “Imagination Station” with Lorraine West, 1 to 4 pm. Participants will create self-portraits, view the works of van Gogh, Dali and Warhol for inspiration, and use touch, memory, a mirror or a photograph to depict how they see themselves through drawing and sculpture.

Theatre Camp will be presented by professional actors from Shakesperience Production, Inc., in Mattatuck’s Performing Arts Center. It will be offered July 10-14 for ages 11 to 14 and July 17-21 for ages 7 to 11, with an optional second week for ages 11 to 14. For both weeks the sessions will run from 9 am to 4 pm.

In the Shakesperience Summer Intensive Theatre Camp professional actors will direct students in theatre classes and rehearsals using the Shakesperience Approach – improvisation and theatre games – with the ultimate goal of creating a performance for the community. Shakesperience Productions’ professional artists create arts in education programming rooted in classical literature while celebrating, examining, and experiencing humanity and human experience.

Students will spend the morning with warm ups, activities and classes. After lunch, they will rehearse their chosen production. They will end their week with a performance for family and friends.

Participants in the first week may sign up for the second week, where they will assist instructors and directors while continuing to learn the dramatic arts.

Theatre instructors will include Emily Mattina, founder and producing director of Shakesperience Productions, Inc., and Melissa Izzo, a certified drama teacher with professional experience in many different areas of theatre. Other Shakesperience staff will join the group throughout the week.

Full days (9 am to 4 pm) cost $175 for members and $195 for non-members. Half days (9 am to noon or 1 to 4 pm) are $85 for members and $95 for non-members. The second week of Theatre Camp for 11 to 14 year olds is $150.

Memberships at Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center cost $10 for students or $60 for a family and offer benefits as well as savings on camp tuition.

Mattatuck is at 144 West Main Street. For further information, call 203-753-0381 extension 10, or visit MattatuckMuseum.org.