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2021 Summer Camps


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Summer Arts Camps at Rhizome, in Takoma! Be creative, learn something new, make new friends, have a blast! These will be small, friendly, relaxed camps. The focus will be on creative collaboration and open-minded engagement with the material in a fun, zero-pressure environment. Fees include all materials. Group size limited to 8 children. As of now the plan is to require masks and for as many activities as possible to take place outdoors.

Email info@rhizomedc.org with questions.

Scholarships available if the cost is a burden. We can also offer a sibling discount of 25%.

Registration form HERE.

Morning and afternoon camps can be combined for a full day 9am-4pm. No extra charge to stay through the lunch hour.

FULL/WAITING LIST // June 28-July 2 * 9am-noon * Mixed Arts – SculptureScapes * $200 * Ages 8-11
Campers will make individual mini-maquettes as well as participate in large-scale group projects like a sculpture city from a variety of different materials. They will work on a found-object fort challenge and detailed shadow boxes. Participants might make colorful melting ice sculptures on a hot day, or a front porch cardboard forest on a rainy one. Instructor: Caroline MacKinnon

FULL/WAITING LIST // June 28-July 2 * 1-4pm * Mixed Arts - Paper Play * $200 * Ages 8-11
Participants will use many types of paper to create a myriad of projects including recycled papers, folded paper, magic books and paper toys. Campers will make popups and spinners, flipbooks and masks, and get the chance to play with their creations. Instructor: Caroline MacKinnon

WE CAN PRORATE THE COST IF YOU NEED TO MISS JULY 5 // July 5-9 * 9am-noon * Mixed Arts - Color Jam * $200 * Ages 8-11
Participants will get the chance to experiment with color using different art materials. How do colors mix and layer when we use watercolor spray paints compared to when we tie-dye? They might create blue photograms, a green leaf collage or try rainbow paint on glass. Instructor: Caroline MacKinnon

WE CAN PRORATE THE COST IF YOU NEED TO MISS JULY 5 // July 5-9 * 1-4pm * Mixed Arts - Loose Parts * $200 * Ages 8-11
Campers will try out monoprinting, drip painting and more throughout the week. They will play different group art games like pass the portrait and exquisite corpse, building on each other’s work and play. Participants will try out assemblage, collage and decollage with found objects and miscellaneous papers. Instructor: Caroline MacKinnon

July 12-16 * 9am-noon * Creative Writing Camp: Experiments & Games * $200 * Ages 12-14
This camp is for anyone who likes writing and exploring different forms and genres in a fun, relaxed setting. Each day will include open writing time, writing experiments and games, conversations about writing and how to overcome obstacles, and a chance to share your work - if you want to! You’ll try your hand at micro-fiction, poetry, flash nonfiction, and making up your own forms. Bring your imagination, a notebook, and writing implement. Instructor: Leslie Bumstead

July 12-16 * 1-4pm * Exploring Creativity through the 7 Elements of Art * $200 * Ages 12-14
Creativity is the ability to bring something that was once invisible into the light. Students will investigate Line, Color, Shape, Form, Pattern, Space, and Texture with acclaimed DC painter and multimedia artist Maps Glover. Objective: Understand and develop a relationship with the fundamental elements of art, and develop the skills to identify these elements in popular motifs and artworks. Participants will also be challenged to explore new ways of expressing these elements through the performance arts, visual arts, and sound. Instructor: Maps Glover

THIS CAMP IS FULL // July 19-23 * 9am-noon * Expressive Games * $200 * Ages 8-12
Calling kids 8-12 who are ready for innovative, expressive play: Rhizome is offering a new camp called Expressive Games. Come play music games, writing games, movement games, collaborative games, weird, old, new, and cool games, and even some Capture the Flag. Facilitated by playful (experienced, responsible) adults Anna Josephson and Emma Rothman.

THIS CAMP IS FULL // July 19-23 * 1-4pm * Art + Activism Camp * $200 * Ages 6-17
Join teaching artist Naomi Rose for a week of art and activism! In this week of summer adventure we will explore puppetry, nature art, banner painting, and recycled materials to produce art that speaks loudly on social justice issues we care about. Every day campers will learn about Artist Activists that fight for social change through their art!

THIS CAMP IS FULL // July 26-30 * 9am-4pm * Art + Environment Camp * $400 * Ages 6-17
Join teaching artist Naomi Rose for a week of fun and adventure through artistic expression in the natural environment! In this week of summer adventure, we will enjoy nature walks, create works of art from natural & recycled materials, and make fairy houses. Every day campers will learn about Artist Activists that fight for Environmental Justice through their art!

August 9-13 * 9am-noon * Hand Puppets * $140 * Ages 8+
Hand Puppets are a fantastic introduction to all theater, especially puppetry. This camp includes (not all at once!) drawing, recyclables, papier mache, sanding, painting, gluing, sewing, wigging, costume, music, props, and plenty of expression. Hand puppetry is one of the very few styles of puppetry that allows a single puppeteer to have more than one character onstage at the same time. Instructor: Rachel Gates

About the facilitators:
Leslie Bumstead is a poet and writer who teaches creative writing to all ages in the DC area. Her collection of poems, Cipher/Civilian, was published by Edge Books in 2005. Other works, including essays and translations, have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies. She loves to collaborate with students to help them find confidence in their writing through experiment, exploration, and play.

Rachel Anthonisen Gates is an award winning puppeteer who founded Rhizome Puppet Lab, now in its third year. She is also an educator for MCPS (Stonegate Elementary School), and a parent in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Maps Glover creates work inspired by human behavior and pervasive social issues. He illustrates how time affects behavior, and how observation alters perspective. He constructs portals in which the characters he creates exist and experience the world or maps around them. Often the works addresses emotion thought conflicting colors and distorted Characters. Maps has created works at Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building, Transformer DC, and more. His unconventional approach to expressionism evolves the birth of something new.

Anna Josephson is a homeschooling parent in the District. She grew up in Alaska, where she received Socratic seminar education starting at age 12. She is a published author currently shopping her first novel. "Anna’s class turned my reluctant writer into a storyteller. In addition to producing a 75 page story in the class, she has started on the sequel and has three to four other stories in various stages of production. Writing has become her favorite thing to do."

Caroline MacKinnon is a parent, artist and educator who lives in Takoma Park, MD. She teaches ceramics classes to children and adults at the Takoma Park Community Center. She also holds art workshops for small groups in area schools and has previously run arts camps at Rhizome. She likes meeting people, making art and collecting things.

Emma Pauline Rothman (she/they) was born and raised in TKPK, and graduated from Hampshire College where she studied ethnomusicology and collaborative performance. As an alum of the Village Harmony singing network, she has been touring with the professional group, Northern Harmony since 2016, traveling all over the world teaching and performing traditional polyphony to a wide range of age groups at varying skill levels. She was a lead teacher at the Multi-Arts camp in Northampton, MA in 2018. Emma teaches with patience and compassion, and believes that all students of song can experience pride and satisfaction in the raising of their own voices.

Naomi Rose Weintraub (they/she) is a mixed-media artist, based in Silver Spring, MD. Naomi works as a teaching artist and educator for all ages! Naomi uses embroidery, quilting, printmaking, drawing, animations, and installation work to explore themes of ritual, activism, and play. Naomi loves singing, playing games, and playing Banjolele!

Earlier Event: January 11
Winter / Spring 2021 Classes
Later Event: September 6
Fall 2021 Classes