The Mansfield Art Center (MAC) hosts various workshops, camps, and classes designed to teach and refine one’s artistry. Even young artists can get involved by participating in the eight-week children’s classes, the children’s weekend workshops, and the summer camps.
Mary Cooper, MAC educator, stated, “Teaching kids about the arts gives them an appreciation for art, especially when we show them the gallery and they can see all sorts of different pieces. They see how art is not contained just in school, but that it extends to the outdoors.”
Students get to experience art outdoors with the Natural Born Artists Camp, and Cooper is the instructor. This nature-themed course allows children grades kindergarten through fourth grade to learn how to use natural elements, including sticks, flowers, leaves, and stones to create art.
Cooper stated, “We looked at the work in the gallery and the kids sort of mimicked what they saw there in class.”
Some of the projects the students have done so far include creating clay leaves with insects on them, to which Cooper added, “They really enjoyed that.” They’ve also made “rock monsters,” painted rocks with eyes on them. The students are currently working on a mobile that will have leaves, beads, and bells hanging from the string.
Isaac Onderak, 6, was in the process of painting his leaves for the mobile and mentioned, “Every kind of art is my favorite, and I really like making masks, like the ones for your face and the ones you put on the wall.”
He was excited for the following day’s lesson when they got to put the leaves on the string. “I’m going to hang mine from a tree in my yard,” he said.
In addition to the Natural Born Artists Camp, the Mansfield Art Center features four other summer camps for people to get involved in, both children and adults.
Cooper stated that compared to the previous quarter, summer quarter has more than doubled its size in the amount of students attending the camps and courses from about 40 students to 90 students.
“It’s been really busy around here,” she said. “It’s nice to see the repeat students.”
For more information about the MAC, go to www.mansfieldartcenter.org.
