Silly old bear

Silly old bear. It’s one of my favorite lines from A.A. Milne tales of the little boy named Christopher Robin whose fluffy companions include a bear called Winnie the Pooh. I’ve got Pooh on the brain today after reflecting a bit more on the transition to a new blog site. I’m remembering my early days with our oldest son Christopher, whose room as a toddler was decorated with all things primary colors and Pooh.

Christopher has been a part of our lives for more than two decades, and I’ve been affiliated with Raising Arizona Kids for nearly that long — joining the staff when my three children were still small enough to read Winnie the Pooh tales in lap mode. They’re all in college now, so the nature of our relationships is evolving. Still, this will always be their home.

That’s how I feel about Raising Arizona Kids. Folks concerned that my new adventures mean their stories won’t get shared with RAK audiences needn’t fret. I’m continuing to cover Arizona arts and culture for the magazine, but in online article rather than blog mode. Also continuing to write an arts page for each month’s print magazine. Your stories are no less near and dear to me now than they were some 1,250 + posts ago when I started blogging.

Like all artists, writers need to explore and grow. We need fresh eyes on new landscapes. I never worry, when seeing associate artists for Childsplay direct or act in other settings, that their love for Childsplay is diminished in any way. I suspect their diverse adventures fuel both their individual creativity and work together as an ensemble. That’s how I feel about both writing for RAK and doing my own “Stage Mom Musings” thing.

Similarly, our children’s college adventures don’t mean they love us any less. It’s just that there are more paths for them to travel. And that’s as it should be. I fully expect that the road back home will stay well trodden. And so it is for my relationship with Raising Arizona Kids. I’ll be sharing arts adventures both there and here, which’ll help me champion Arizona arts both locally and beyond our borders.

I hope you’ll follow along on my road trip. Covering Arizona arts and culture — and those who nurture and create it — continues to be my great joy and privilege. So no worries, silly old bear.

— Lynn

Note: Please send arts and culture news my way at stagemommusings@gmail.com. That’ll get your events and programs on both my RAK and Stage Mom Musings radar. Once RAK recovers from flood mode, we’ll get old “Stage Mom” posts moved over to the “Stage Mom Musings” site.

Coming up: Friday night lights, Crock of ages?

Camps get creative!

Saturday I enjoyed my first visit to the relatively new Shea campus for 5th through 12th graders at the Tesseract School, a private school founded in 1988 — which also has a Doubletree campus for preschool through 4th grade students.

I was there checking out the many camps with fun exhibits, cool contests and nifty giveaways — and in an act of extraordinary self control, I somehow managed to walk right past the booths serving ice cream and Mojo yogurt.

I chatted with folks from all sorts of camps, but focused my attention on camps specializing in the arts — dance, music, theater and/or visual arts. You can click here for a companion post featuring photos designed to give you a feel for the day.

I was pleased to discover that several general camps who exhibited at the 2011 RAK Camp Fair include visual and performing arts fare in their many offerings.

In the All Saints’ “Summer 2011” brochure, for example, I found classes like “Vans Gogh,” “Write On!,” “Young Musicians,” and “Fractured Fairy Tales.”

While many camps were represented by their director or program staff, some brought along parent volunteers or kids who’ve attended their camps in the past.

Longtime Greasepaint Youtheatre volunteer Lorraine Kirkorsky was there with one of four sons who’ve enjoyed theater at Greasepaint (including the oldest, now in medical school).

Lots of camps used unique means to attract attention — from Wild West get-ups to reptiles. Also spinning contest wheels, furry little animals, videos of performing campers and more. I’ll share photos of some of those on Sunday as well.

At nearly every booth I explored, I found a story with an arts twist — reinforcing my theory that art touches (and transforms) every aspect of life.

The woman working the Pointe Hilton Resorts booth described how various family members have come, in different ways, to making art of one sort or another — promising to alert me next time her grown daughter with a flair for chalk art exhibits during First Fridays in Phoenix.

When I got home from the 2011 RAK Camp Fair, my 17-year-old daughter Lizabeth eagerly showed me a letter that had come while I was away. It was from an East Coast college offering her a generous financial aid package. (She’ll start college this fall but has yet to choose a school.)

I haven’t any doubt that it’s her many years of education in the arts and humanities — including her study of music and theater at Arizona School for the Arts and many summers filled with music, dance and theater camps — that has readied her to not simply stumble from the nest, but to soar.

— Lynn

Note: If your summer camp exhibited at this year’s Raising Arizona Kids Camp Fair, feel free to send photos of your booth for possible use in future posts.

Coming up: A director’s tale, Get a Q!, More drama in Wisconsin, Josh Kornbluth meets Andy Warhol, Favorite Oscar moments

Towering art exhibit

I drive by all sorts of towers in Phoenix and surrounding cities each day, but there are two that have special meaning. One helped my children begin life. The other helped give them wings.

The first is Good Samaritan Hospital — which I never pass without wondering which of the many windows might mark the rooms where my three children were born, all some two decades or so ago.

The second is the new 11-story tower at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, whose team of medical professionals has cared for my kids for nearly that long. We know the E.R., and plenty of the specialty clinics — from dermatology to gastroenterology — well.

We missed Monday’s opening of the new outpatient clinics because my son, now 21, was having a medical procedure at another site — but he still beams with pride every time we drive by the new Phoenix Children’s tower, knowing it’s part of the hospital that’s sometimes felt like a second home.

I’ll be heading over to Phoenix Children’s Hospital today to see the new tower in all its glory — then heading home to wrap up a piece on the hospital for an upcoming issue of Raising Arizona Kids magazine.

Through the years I’ve covered many a Phoenix Children’s Hospital milestone for the magazine. I’ve marveled at the sight of tiny babies who thrive despite being born before their time and chatted with older children who’ve faced cancer or undergone delicate heart surgery.

I’m eager to return today — but without my children. They’ll all be in class or doing volunteer work, so I can stroll the halls of the newest Phoenix Children’s Hospital tower alone as I consider all it has meant in their young lives.

I’ll likely take my humble camera along to snap photos of the diverse and delightful art young patients and their families will encounter each time they’re at the new tower.

I already know it’s spectacular because I enjoyed a sneak peek several weeks ago with Daniel Friedman — the photographer, visual artist and former teacher whose fresh writing greets you on the magazine’s home page each day.

Watch for future snapshots that I’ll be adding to this post. In the meantime, visit RAK magazine on Facebook to see how the professionals do it — and check out exciting news about what’s new (and coming) on the Phoenix Children’s Hospital website.

— Lynn

Note: Phoenix Children’s Hospital is working on other additions and renovations as it moves toward becoming the nation’s largest hospital dedicated to serving children and teens.

Coming up: More art that heals