If you have a child at home looking for something to keep his or her hands busy during these dog days of summer, the Tracy Public Library might be the place to go.
During the last two weeks of July, the library will be the place to be, as it will host a Theater Camp from from 10 a.m.noon on July 21-23 and two Summer Arts Camps from July 28-30.
The Theater Camp is designed to encourage creativity, storytelling and imaginative play through movement and collaborative activities.
“I’m really excited about it,” said artist-in-residence Sammi Jo Miller. “We tried to get it off the ground last year, but we only had a couple students registered, so we didn’t have enough to really justify the class. So I’m hoping that we get a few more registered this year, because it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Miller hasn’t worked out all the details yet, but she is very excited about getting the kids to the camp to work on a variety of things related to the performing arts.
“We’ll build costumes, do the exercises and might do a production on the last day for parents,” Miller said. “Confidence is really the big thing;” I want the kids to walk away with confidence. If I could wish one thing for our youth, it’s that they carry that confidence into adulthood.”
Miller described the camp as an introduction to theater for small children who might not otherwise have a chance to realize the theater experience and prepare those who envision performing on stage when they get older.
“There are some good theater programs and lots of good people working to keep theater alive in our rural communities,” Miller said.
The Summer Art Camp is broken into two pieces: An Art & Wonder Camp for ages 4-6 from 10 a.m.-noon on July 28-30; and a Creative Studio: Art & Exploration Camp for kids aged 7-11 from 1-3 p.m. those same three days.
“The kids will do usually between three and four art projects,” said Miller. “I like to incorporate something that kind of has a ‘wow’ factor, something the kids are really going to remember, and also incorporate the ’sneaky’ learning of the vocabulary and technical art skills.”
The camps are sponsored by the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council.
The cost of those that combined camp is $45 for all three days.
Also on the horizon is a teen program arts series run through Tracy Community Education. The Sketchbook Club runs from July 21-24; and Digital Arts for Teens is from Aug. 11-13. Both are $5 per participant and are for ages 12 and above. More details on those two offerings can be found on the Community Education schedule on Page 7 of this week’s paper.
