Ah Haa: Youth Summer Art Camps Start 6/19

17 Jun Ah Haa: Youth Summer Art Camps Start 6/19

T’is the season. That is the season of bright sunshine, river music, and tourists wandering through our streets, jaws agape. Summer also means Telluride’s Ah Haa School for the Arts is fully geared up to launch 10 weeks of youth summer art camps and Fabulous Fridays for ages 4 – 18. To help kick off its summer season and fill some remaining spots in classrooms, Ah Haa is offering 30 percent discounts to locals for several of its June 19-23 classes. Simply enter the discount code LOCAL30 when registering online, or call the school at 970-728-3886. Similar last-minute deals will be available periodically throughout the summer, so keep checking online.

Offered in morning or afternoon sessions, Ah Haa’s youth art classes run the gamut from wheel throwing and silver jewelry to screen printing and acting. Plus, as a summer kick-off bonus to local residents, Ah Haa is offering an automatic 30% discount on select first-week classes.

Week-one camps start Monday, June 19, kicking off with Angela Pashayan’s Mountainscapes class, offered for 4 -and 5-year olds in the morning (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) and 6-to 8-year olds in the afternoon (1-4 p.m.) This class is all about getting outside to paint in nature. Each day, students will walk the River Trail or ride the gondola to find natural settings that inspire.  Then they’ll set to work applying paint to paper as they take in the flora and fauna of Telluride’s spectacular scenery.

For 6- to 8-year-old fashionistas out there, Kate Kurtz offers a morning Fun With Fashion class, in which participants will invent simple fashion design projects using new and existing materials. Think re-fashioned handbags, tulle skirts, and screen printed T-shirts. The class will culminate in a fashion show for parents and friends.

Older youths, ages 9+ have two session-in camp choices. Tara Carter’s morning Solar Printing class explores printmaking with the sun, moving from simple sun prints to solar plate etching, a way to transform photographs into etchings using photo-sensitive plates. In the afternoon, Jacey DePriest teaches Peace Flags, a silk painting class that takes inspiration from Tibetan Prayer flags.

Telluride Theatre’s Colin Sullivan returns with his ever-popular Superhero Theatre camp for ages 4-5, June 19-22, 1-4 p.m.  This ultra-creative class is all about channeling your own superhero while having interactive fun, with a few special powers thrown in the mix.

If single-day classes are more your child’s speed, Ah Haa’s Fabulous Fridays are the perfect option.

Ages 4-6 can spend the morning creating Henri Matisse-inspired nesting bowls out of clay or weave a watercolor masterpiece in the afternoon. Older youth ages 7+ have the option of exploring with mixed-media portraiture in the morning or building ceramic “fossil jars” in the afternoon.

All summer art camps run Monday through Thursday, and single-day classes are offered on Fridays. Class times are 9 a.m.-noon or 1-4 p.m. Full-day students have the option of staying through lunch, which is supervised on Ah Haa’s patio from 12-1 p.m.

For full class descriptions and registration, go to ahhaa.org.