The past two weeks have been a crazy/busy time for Free Arts! We had our two Multicutural Arts Camp (MAC) sessions over the past two weeks. Session one was for high school students and session two was for middle school students. We had about 65 students total for each camp!
The camp is a week long summer art camp in which our partner facilities (i.e. the group homes, shelters, residential treatment centers, etc) bring some of their youth to participate in it. The camp is designed to give the youth a fun and exciting summer camp experience that they may not have otherwise! The camp is entirely free for the kids thanks to donors who help sponsor the camp.
My role at the camp was to be a volunteer in one of the groups of children and also help the camp director with whatever she needed. This usually includes getting together more name tags, doing volunteer reminder calls, picking up things from the office, etc.
Let me just say that I have worked many summer camps, and this was by far one of the most challenging, but easily the most unique and fun camps ever! I was pretty nervous working with the youth since I'm not used to working with older youth, but it was so amazing! The youth got to participate in five different workshops each day: recycled music, Latin dance, world arts, Asian arts, and junk art. It was so much fun! They were all really engaged in all of the workshops and there really was something for everyone. At the end of the week, they got to put on an art showcase where their family and facility staff could come and see what they've been doing all week. It was awesome to see all their accomplishments!
These past few weeks really put into perspective on what Free Arts does, what the youth have been through and how art can change impact their lives. It was hard to hear about some of the experiences many of these youth sadly have had to experience. They have been through some really heavy stuff. But it was amazing to hear about how the art was helping them feel better and more empowered and how they felt liked they never been able to create before. Many of the kids said they have never felt accepted anywhere until they came to camp. A lot of the children who were shy and withdrawn really opened up towards the end.
These past two weeks made me realize the importance this organization is in the community and how it can and will continue to transform lives. I'm excited to continue to intern here at Free Arts and ready to take on the second half of the summer!
Photos from camp are coming soon! I promise!
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