"It doesn't really need to look like something. You just put it down and it looks cool," said Sofia Rivera about the artistic movement known as surrealism.
The 10-year-old first learned about the concept two weeks ago during the first day of Art Camp at First Presbyterian Church in Rogers. On the second day, Rivera created her own surrealistic painting based on "Nocture" by Joan Miro, a prominent figure of surrealism.
Glossary
Roaring Twenties — A term characterizing the decade’s distinctive cultural edge in New York City, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, London, Los Angeles and many other major cities during a period of sustained economic prosperity. Normalcy returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional patriotism after World War I. Jazz music blossomed, the flapper redefined modern womanhood, and Art Deco peaked. Economically, the era saw the large-scale use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures and electricity, as well as unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture.
Surrealism — a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
Joan Miro (1893 to 1983) — Spanish painter. A prominent figure of surrealism, he painted a brightly colored fantasy world of variously spiky and amebic calligraphic forms against plain backgrounds.
Art Deco — the predominant decorative art style of the 1920s and 1930s, characterized by precise and boldly delineated geometric shapes and strong colors, and used most notably in household objects and in architecture.
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"That looks like the moon. Those look like mountains," she said pointing to the image of Miro's art.
One thing fellow camper Ryann Richards said she liked about surrealism is two people can look at the same painting and see different things.
"It's cool because it doesn't really make sense," this 10-year-old began. "Well, it makes sense, but you have to look at it and think about it. ... It doesn't have to be a thing you could walk outside and see."
Indeed the copies of Miro's work to which the students referred looked more like signs and symbols -- some in black, others in bright red and blue -- rather than any recognizable portrait, landscape or structure.
The study of surrealism grew out of this summer's camp theme -- the 1920s and the 1930s, "The Roaring Twenties," and "Boom To Bust." Each year the camp focuses on one theme for the two one-week sessions. Campers can choose to attend one or both sessions.
"Art is a reflection of what's going on in that time period (in which it was created)," said Deborah Robbins, camp director. "In Miro's work, he's incorporated the eyes. At that time, Tutankhamun's crypt had been discovered. That was really 'in.' It was a big discovery."
The intact tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. A common image of the young king's sarcophagus shows his almond-shaped eyes and eyebrows outlined with a thick blue line.
In addition to surrealism, campers also studied Art Deco, architecture and advertising from the time period. Mini classes included tie dying, weaving, listening to live jazz music and dancing the Charleston, and listening to early radio broadcasts.
Rogers Historical Museum loaned the camp magazines and other artifacts from the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the magazines showed advertising for Keds sneakers -- the same brand of shoes some of the campers have, Robbins said.
"While they are going to do art and the camp is art based, we have all these different influences that make up that time period. We try to keep them interested by presenting a broad picture," Robbins said.
Robbins, a church member, presented the idea for an art camp to the church during a brainstorming session when the church was reevaluating its outreach. Robbins earned a bachelor's of fine arts degree from the University of Akron in Ohio,
"The pastor said, 'Great. Go with it,'" she recalled. She researched, spoke with people at the church and in the community and held the first camp in 2007.
The camp, for children entering first through seventh grades, covers a lot of the art concepts required for public schools, but it is able to give the children more time to spend on projects, she said. It also can introduce students to material they might not be able to work with at school -- such as clay -- or projects that take a longer period of time to complete -- such as papier-mache.
"Sometimes, because we live in a state that's poor, some kids don't get that exposure," Robbins said.
The camp, which is open to the communty as well as church members, is a kind of supplement to the school's curriculum, she said. It offers two weeks of creative expression to either introduce new material and concepts or to piggyback on previous studies for the campers.
Although this is an art camp, Robbins said, the camp is for any child, no matter the talent level.
"A lot of parents who send their kids to fine arts camps recognize their child may not be the best artist in the world ... but it's the exposure that's really important," she added.
Exposure to various kinds of art -- music, drama, dance -- helps enrich children's vocabulary and gives them perspective, she said.
Robbins said the church has been supportive during the eight years of the camp. The church also provides space twice a year for the Leslie Shupe Art School for ages 7 to 12.
"The arts, in all their forms, are important ways of expressing nature, creation and our relationship with God," said the Rev. Carl McCormack, interim pastor at First Presbyterian. "God isn't a one-dimensional God. Our relationship with God involves how we act, how we live, everything we do, including how we express ourselves artistically, dramatically or politically. Our relationship with God affects every aspect of life."
NAN Religion on 07/26/2014