What I learned at summer camp…fair

Remember all those back-to-school essays teachers used to assign after summer breaks — most expecting a gripping account of summertime adventures. I’d have written far better answers had I attended all the camps I’m exploring at this weekend’s Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Camp Fair, where I’m learning all sorts of things.

I discovered on Saturday, for example, that it’s impossible to tell which of two napping ferrets is named “Romeo” and which is named “Juliet.” It’s best, I think, to let sleeping ferrets lie.

I learned that Linda Pullinski, a painter who works with the Scottsdale Artists’ School, longs to try her hand at the flying trapeze — something Nigel of the Independent Lake Camp says they offer as part of their circus camp (kids can circus now, but an adult circus experience is in the works).

Pullinski reminded me of something I’d known but forgotten — that kids can get creative with the simplest of objects. While some art camp exhibitors opted for paint, she let kids play with all sorts of animals and such made with colorful pipe cleaners. It’s all good, of course. The more art experiences the better.

A bevy of bunnies atop the Crazzy Wasewagan’s Camp & Retreat table reminded me that bunnies, whether California or Arizona-grown, love to munch on juicy apples. At other booths featuring animal fare, I discovered that reptiles and octopus are more mum about their snacking habits.

I watched a woman at the Northern Arizona University table showing children different marks made by various creatures in a couple of logs and bits of bark she’d brought along, and remembered how important it was to know such things when my children were little.

I discovered that kids will be baking Hamentashen stuffed with chocolate, raspberry or apricot at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center today as they learn about the history of Purim and its traditions. And that they’re holding a Passover celebration called “Chocolate Seder”on April 1.

Lee Cooley with Valley Youth Theatre shared the news that VYT alumnus Nick Cartell will be rocking the swing thing when a revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar” opens on Broadway in March. Soon they’ll need to turn their poster featuring famous folks who’ve trained and performed with VYT into a wall mural.

And I learned from Linda with Montessori Academy Smart Camps that they’re working to become trailblazers of sorts — having kids grow the food they prepare in a culinary program on site in their very own community garden. Michelle Obama, take note.

By now I’ve surely supassed the length of your average “what I learned at summer camp” essay, so I’ll save the rest of my 2012 Camp Fair musings for future posts — and hope you get a chance to make some fun discoveries of your own at today’s Camp Fair session at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School in Chandler.

— Lynn

Note: I’ll be updating this post with more photos after attending Sunday’s Camp Fair in Chandler — and writing more about arts camps who participated in future posts.

Coming up: What a ham!, Got glass?

Two fairs, three festivals

Unplug the kids this weekend for a bit of camp fair and festival fun

I’m heading out this morning, and tomorrow, to enjoy this year’s Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Camp Fair — taking place at the Tesseract School Shea Campus in Phoenix (Feb. 25) and the Seton Catholic Preparatory High School in Chandler (Feb. 26). I’m especially eager to chat with folks from all the camps offering visual and performing arts fare.

I’ll have plenty of good choices for weekend fun, including three festivals, once I get my Camp Fair fix — a Black History Month festival in Peoria, a Matsuri festival in Phoenix and a Sunday A’Fair “mini-festival” in Scottsdale.

The Black History Month celebration in Peoria actually kicked off last night with a jazz concert featuring Dennis Rowland, but those of you who missed it will be pleased to know that he’s also part of a concert taking place at the Herberger Theater Center Mon, Feb. 27 to benefit Actors Theatre (which also stars Walt Richardson, and Bob Sorenson as master of ceremonies).

The Black History Month Festival happens today from 10am to 7pm in Osuna Park in Peoria (83rd and Grand Aves.). I’m told they’ll have live music, vendors, community and medical service stations, and a kids zone — plus lots of information and educational materials. Admission to the festival is free, and the day also includes a tribute to the late Whitney Houston.

Sunday A’Fair in Scottsdale takes place Sun, Feb. 26 from noon to 4pm on the large lawn adjacent to the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Admission to this baby is free as well.

This week’s Sunday A’Fair features the Chuck Hall Band playing “a spicy Texas stew of originals and unique blues-based standards” from noon to 1:30pm and Powerdrive playing “Red-hot salsa dance numbers, R & B, classic oldies and Tex-Mex.”

Sunday A’Fairs also take place March 4 & 25 and April 1 & 8 — and each features different concert fare. All include a fine arts and crafts market, activities for children and free admission to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

Arizona Matsuri, the 28th Annual Festival of Japan, hits Heritage and Science Park in downtown Phoenix both Sat, Feb. 25 and Sun, Feb. 26 from 10am-5pm. It features exhibits, demonstrations, arts and crafts, children’s activities and three stages with live entertainment. Plus Japanese food and bonsai displays.

Folks dressed in Japanese attire are invited to participate in the Matsuri parade that starts at 10:10am today (start gathering at the Plaza Stage around 9:45am).  An opening ceremony at 10:30am this morning features Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan’s ambassador to the United States.

Festival organizers note that “flowering cherry trees have seen symbols of Japan’s friendship to the people of America for 100 years.” In 1912, more than 3,000 cherry trees were gifted from the Tokyo to Washington, D.C. so 2012 has been dubbed the Japan-U.S. Cherry Blossom Centennial.

Enjoy all these fabulous fairs and festivals while you can. In another couple of months the only things we’ll be celebrating are ice cubes and air conditioning.

— Lynn

Note: Ice cube meets art at the corner of First St. and Brown Ave. in Scottsdale, where you’ll find a 2006 work created with concrete, forged iron and pavers that also includes a rose, cowboy boot, boxing glove and more. It’s “Hidden Histories for Old Town Scottsdale” by Elizabeth Conner with Benson Shaw, Duke Grenier, and Tawn Endres.

Coming up: Starry, starry playwright

Camp meets creativity

Youth enjoying a spring break camp at Mesa Arts Center last year

In a perfect world, our schools would be overflowing with art classes and academic classes integrating the arts into everything from history to science. Families would spent weekends taking children and teens to local libraries and museums. Children would race home after school to create their own puppet shows or paintings with recyclable materials or inexpensive supplies.

Youth enjoying a summer camp at Phoenix Theatre last year

But worries about time, money and plenty of other factors too often get in the way — and today’s kids are getting a raw deal in the arts and culture department.

Summer camps are a way to fill that void. They help children and teens discover the joys of creative expression, connect with friends who have similar interests and learn new skills rarely taught at home or school.

I’d like to say that my kitchen table was always covered with canvas and paints, but it wasn’t. And the sheets my kids loved to throw over the dining room table for pretend play spent too much time in the linen closet.

My children are all in college now, but it was tough to find the best camp fit when they were younger. Today parents have resources that add a “one-stop shopping” element to the whole experience — like the Raising Arizona Kids Magazine summer camp directory, and their annual camp fair.

This year they’ve expanded the Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Camp Fair to two days, and I’m eager to attend both days so I can meet and chat with all the folks offering camps that feature visual and/or performing arts.

It’s a great way to see what’s out there for children and teens in areas like dance, music, theater, film and visual arts — though I have to confess that I’m easily distracted by all the other camps I find there, especially when animals are involved.

Youth enjoying Camp Broadway 2007 at ASU Gammage

I’m told there are still a few spaces in case any of you want to jump in at the last minute to let folks know about your own camps for children or teens. If you’re a parent seeking summer camp options, you’re wise to start the search now. I learned the hard way too many times just how quickly some of these camps fill up every year.

Youth enjoying a spring camp at Valley Youth Theatre

We sometimes get so busy with our daily lives that we forget to make time and space for our children and teens to explore new ideas and activities, to experiment with materials rarely enjoyed at home or in the classroom, to interact with other youth in positive settings that foster social and emotional skills.

Thankfully, there’s a camp for that.

— Lynn

Note: To learn more about securing exhibit space for your organization at the 2012 Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Camp Fair, call the magazine office at 480-991-KIDS (5437).

Coming up: History in your hometown

A labor of love

Last week, after driving my college-age son Christopher to an appointment, I told him I was off to run errands. Bank. Drugstore. Grocery store. All the fun stuff.

I certainly meant well, but simply couldn’t resist the lure of the Scottsdale Civic Center as I drove past. There’s a library, a museum of contemporary art, winding park paths, a museum store, a performing arts center and restaurants galore.

If you can read this, thank a teacher -- and a librarian

I still had the Wickenberg Public Library, recently closed due to budget cuts, on the brain. I wanted to visit my own local libary, and pause a while to reflect by the giant quill and inkwell sculptures near the entrance.

View from a balcony that overlooks the corresponding ink well for this giant golden quill

The whole area — part of Scottsdale’s “Old Town” — is full of places for peaceful reflection. Think park benches, colorful gardens and calming water features.

Old Town Scottsdale is a no-GPS-required zone that's perfect for pedestrians

This was a favorite haunt when Christopher was first learning to take pictures

Plenty of tables and benches make this a great place to enjoy picnic meals or relaxed conversation

While walking through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (within easy walking distance of the library), I heard the cheerful voices of children — and soon followed the sound to a small theater where students from a nearby elementary school were about to enjoy a film about dance.

It was just steps away from the large open space where both my daughters have performed with fellow Dance Theater West summer campers.

There’s also a small art exhibit space nearby, the “young@art” gallery, which currently features an exhibit titled “Imagining Dance” — with sculpture, paintings, video of dance performance and more.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts presents dance on stage and on exhibit

Imagining Dance exhibit at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

I picked up a brochure for the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts to discover diverse dance offerings coming soon — including the legendary Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Naturally I hit the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts gift shop on the way out (there’s another gift shop just across the sidewalk at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art).

Know any dancers looking for a unique dance bag?

The best museum stores offer serious and humorous fare

It’s a fun place to find teacher gifts, unique items for children and all sorts of arts-related fare — and I love shopping where I can support local arts and culture.

But my fondest memories of Scottsdale Civic Center involve adventures with my young children — reading in the children’s section of the library, taking pictures together of flowers and public art, watching performances by artists we admire.

My son was apparently very eager to explore it even before his late August birth 21 years ago. I felt the first pangs of labor while having dinner with my husband at a joint that’s since been replaced with an Indian restaurant — and walked for some time around the grounds hoping to speed up the process.

This balcony once housed the restaurant where I felt my first labor pangs

While the walking may have helped, it wasn’t a quick fix. I didn’t head to the hospital until later that night after my water broke and the cramping grew hard to ignore.

I’d chosen a small stuffed animal — “Big Bird” of Sesame Street — for my focal point during labor (the thing that supposedly takes your mind off the pain if you stare at it hard enough).

With Jennifer, our second child, I used a giant clock. The moving hands were more distracting than the stillness of a stuffed animal.

With Lizabeth, our last, it was the row of tiny buttons on James’ shirt (by then I was too busy to think ahead in the childbirth department).

But it occurred to me as I passed the giant LOVE sculpture at the Scottsdale Civic Center, that I should have used a replica of this work (I hadn’t yet discovered them for sale at the SMOCA gift shop).

This iconic sculpture sits on a lawn at Scottsdale Civic Center

As my children continue their journey through adulthood, I suspect these detours to the places we’ve so often enjoyed together will happen more and more often.

Labors of love stay with us forever.

— Lynn

Note: The art teacher I met that day, from Zuni Hills Elementary School, recently got in touch with me — so I look forward to learning more about their art program.

Coming up: The fine art of friendship, Got graffiti?, Broadway tales, Copper rush, Three necessary things