Tweens and Art: Transformative Talents!
They’re not little ones. They’re not teens. Kids from about nine years old to the edge of their freshman year of high school find themselves “in between”. They’ve got the exuberance of childhood still bubbling, and over that comes the new found smarts and dawning ability, the feeling that they can know and do more. Add to this mix the development of interests. They know what they like. They’re building their passions. If you’ve got a tween, you know: you’ve got something special.
TWEENS ARE BUDDING ARTISTS.
As they navigate the waters between childhood and full-on teenagerdom, their independence strengthens. They see that rules are shorthand for judgment, that the black and white is a range of color. They live in the shades and tints. Tweens learn that a question may have many answers, or better yet, a question may open deeper questions. By the nature of their age, they are opening up to the world and the world is opening up to them. It’s a thrilling and important time.
ART CAN MAKE THE MOST OF TWEENDOM.
The mindset described above happens to be a great mindset for art. It’s open and energized. With art, that new independence can be strengthened with confidence born from new skills. The desire to splash color across the page can now meet with the desire to capture the shadow of a leaf. When it’s done, when the tween artist can take their kid’s urge and match it with their new powers of persistence and control, the result can be magic.
With art, tweens learn to wrestle with materials, and to let materials speak to them. They turn the abstract or imaginary into reality. They problem solve. They read and create subtlety, like the touch of blue that makes a shadow beneath the chin. Art’s a place to take the world head on, to learn, explore and express in ever more complex ways.
What we can do:
Tweens are ready to focus. When they take a painting class, for example, they want to paint. When they study clay, they know that over in the corner sits the potters wheel, and they are itching to see if they can handle it.
Understanding a tweens increasing capacity and desire for focus, we have built a range of summer camps sure to engage them. From classics like portrait drawing and still life painting to exciting camps in graphic novels and tween sewing, the tween artists of Philly Art Center are never short of great ways to discover, tinker, render, test, and experiment. They can machine sew, create comics, screen print, throw clay on the potters wheel, paint, draw and so much more.
Our curriculum introduces history, contemporary art, cultures around the globe, and imaginative exercise to get their minds buzzing, to see the possibilities. With this inspiration in hand, the tween artists are ready to tackle the materials, be it wood, wire, paper, fibers, metals, plaster, clay, foam, or even the strange and wonderful junk found everywhere around us. Through a focused approach with specialty camps focused on particular media, our tween camps go deep.
THE TWEEN YEARS ARE TRANSFORMATIVE.
Still riding the rush of younger years and yet sensing the know how and ideas to come, tweens are ready explore the world. They are ready to forge passions. For this, Philly Art Center is just place.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL RANGE OF TWEEN ART CAMPS OFFERED AT PHILLY ART CENTER.
