Kids Dig Into Art at New Canaan Camp

NEW CANAAN, Conn. – How does a 7-year-old girl make a television? Katrina Tehrani has figured it out.

With a design in mind, Katrina dipped plaster strips into a bucket of water and carefully laid them on top of a piece of paper. The paper soon became sticky as all of the soaked strips became the foundation for her screen, one inspired by Katrina’s love of shows such as "Zoey 101" and "Victorious."

“I’m lazy, and I like to watch TV,” Katrina, her hands covered white plaster glue, said of the inspiration for her sculpture. And she is also very creative, which means she enjoys being enrolled in the 2011 Personal Fulfillment Art Camp at Saxe Middle School in New Canaan.

Since its start 20 years ago with just eight kids over three weeks, Saxe art teacher Andrea Levai has seen enrollment explode. This year, 1,000 children from New Canaan and elsewhere will attend at least one day of the five-week camp.

The campers make their own choices, Levai said. Whether it’s painting, making digital art on computers or working on pottery, the kids are in control. It’s not a traditional classroom, Levai said, and each camper can work at his or her own pace. The classes are broken down into small sessions with no more than 15 kids in one room at a time to guarantee they get plenty of time with the instructors. “We foster experience and creativity. That’s what kids need,” she said.

Katrina has enjoyed making sculptures with plaster strips, wires and old newspapers. Her first creation of the summer was a penguin, which she made because she thinks penguins are cute.

Classmate Ben Walter, 9, kept his first project simple. He started work on a soccer ball, which he decided to make because he loves to play it at West Elementary School. “It’s pretty good,” Ben said of his work in progress.

Do you have a child in the Personal Fulfillment Art Camp? Did you previously attend it? Tell us about it below or visit our Facebook page. Send pictures of your kid’s summer art to mmason@thedailynewcanaan.com.

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