PORT TOWNSEND — Those operating a summer arts camp hope to encourage creativity in children and help them succeed scholastically.
Eventually, those working with the school hope to connect with the Port Townsend School District to offer programs the schools can no longer afford.
“Kids who have the opportunity to play without expectations are a lot more prone to jump in and approach problem-solving,” said Jesse Joshua Watson of the Port Townsend School of the Arts.
The school opened at Fort Worden in 2015 and offers classes to both children and adults.
“My main focus is to get kids to understand how they see, understand their own brain and how it works visually,” said Watson, who also teaches art in the Port Townsend School District.
Each of the summer camps cost $260 for the week aside from “Scales and Tails,” which costs $208.
Scholarships are available, according to Michael D’Alessandro, the executive director of the Northwinds Arts Center, which is co-sponsoring the camp.
Part of the operational and scholarship costs will be supported by a $10,000 grant from the First Federal Community Foundation, D’Alessandro said.
The camp will operate from June 20 to July 29 at Building 306 at Fort Worden State Park and is open to children from 8 to 11 years old.
Each week will be devoted to a single artistic technique and taught by a team of artists.
The weekly themes will be “Color Explosion,” “Out of this World,” “Scales and Tails,” “Junk Art,” “Fairies and Dragons” and “Art Circus.”
The courses will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Snacks will be included.
Along with Northwind’s partnership with the art school, D’Alessandro hopes to work with the Port Townsend School District in offering programs.
“Schools put a lot of focus on mathematics, learning to read and learning to write,” he said.
“Kids who learn how to observe art are better able to absorb other types of information.”
Dan Groussman, president of the board and a teacher of design, said he will run his classroom in a noncompetitive way.
“When I took art as a kid, I was graded on product, which I don’t do; it’s more about the process,” he said.
“There are no right or wrong answers. This isn’t like a math class.”
Groussman said the right answers are defined “by what they can defend.”
“I don’t want them to use a color because it’s the only one they can find; I want them to say they are using a color because it has to be there,” he said.
For more information, go to www.ptschoolofthearts.org/camps.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
