BUCKHANNON – Summer just got a little more crafty, creative and artistic with Stockert Youth and Community Center’s summer art camp beginning next week.

Starting Monday June 10, SYCC will be hosting a summer art camp for children ages 6 to 13 years old of all skill levels. For five weeks, participants will work with instructor Crystal Brown as they create and delve into the many modes of art.

Brown, of ARTcab Studios, also teaches part-time in West Virginia Wesleyan College’s art department and is the director for WVWC Sleeth Gallery. With a BFA from Kendal College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids Michigan and an MFA from Ohio University School of Fine Art, Athens, Ohio, she has taught several forms of art to adults and children both in-state and out-of-state.

“I worked with a local artist in Kansas City on a range of different projects including the creation of ‘The Hown’s Den: A Nomadic + Domestic Exhibition Space,’ where I invited artists to install work in my family’s home and would hold artist receptions for exhibitions and other community events,” she said.

Brown created Artcab Studios as a platform for her to engage with the community about art and the classes she offers throughout and around West Virginia.

“These classes are currently at SYCC, but my vision is to host workshops and classes in other locations as well,” she said.

For the upcoming summer camp, each week will be focused on a particular art form, from mural painting to crocheting and block printing.

From 9-11 a.m. the week of June 10-14, camp will consist of a poster making workshop. The week will conclude with an exhibit and contest supported by the Buckhannon Parks and Recreation Department.

From noon until 2 p.m. the same week, participants will paint as a class a mural on the fence behind downtown Buckhannon’s iconic Dairy Queen.

During the week of July 8-12, campers will create art inspired by nature from 9-11 a.m.

Pattern-making will take place from 9-11 a.m. July 15-19, during which participants will learn the art of collage and block printing. From 9-11 a.m. the week of July 22-26, hand crafts will be the focus with teachings of crochet, knitting, weaving, hand sewing and water felting taking center stage.

Experimental art will be from 9-11 a.m. July 9 until August 2, when students will explore mixed media.

Out of all the art forms that will be touched on, Brown said she’s looking forward to the first week of camp the most.

“The mural painting workshop and poster-making classes will allow the students to have their work and creativity on display in the community via a mural behind the DQ on Main Street,” she said, “and five posters from the poster-making workshop will be selected to be displayed in five locations around Buckhannon as a part of an anti-litter campaign sponsored by a grant given to the Buckhannon Parks and Recreation Department.”

Not only are participants bound to have fun at art camp, Brown said participants can expect to learn new skills or build onto current talents.
“Art has been proven to have a positive effect on our emotional well-being as well as build up our dexterity and hand-eye coordination,” she said. “You don’t have to be good at art to have fun and benefit from the experience.”

Once camp concludes, Brown said she hope participants take away an interest in art and creating while also finding a sense of pride and confidence.

“Studies have shown that being exposed to art at a young age has a positive effect on your overall well-being and will likely plant the seed for valuing art in the future,” she said. “Most of all, I hope my students have fun while making art.”

Those interested can register at the front desk at SYCC. The registration fee is $35 per student for the whole week with a supply fee that varies from class to class. For more information, contact Brown at crystal.crystalann@gmail.com.