Camp ‘Art’-selle inspires creative young people
By By Haley Aaron, Hartselle Enquirer
All of the sudden, a scream rings through the Hartselle Fine Arts Center. As you race to the source of the fading sound, the building’s stage, you soon realize that there’s not a problem. It’s just a practice scream.
The center kicked off the third annual Camp “Art”-selle last week with a stomp (and a few screams). This year’s theme is taken from the Broadway musical “Stomp,” where percussionists use everyday objects to create show-stopping musical performances. Anything can become an instrument - a broom, the lid of a garbage can, even a flashlight.
Camp Co-director Angel Rollins hopes that this year’s theme will get boys more interested in the arts.
So far, it seems that the goal has been successful. The camp’s attendance has increased to 67 campers this year, more than the camp’s goal of 60 students. Of the 67 students, the number of boys has greatly increased.
The camp introduces children to a wide variety of music, dance, drama and visual art techniques. Strains of the “Star Wars” theme float from behind the closed door of the music room, where Hartselle High School band director Randall Key shows campers a wide variety of instruments. In the art room, shoes hang from the wall and a sign declares “Stomp Into Art!” Children are being wrapped in plastic wrap, to make human sculptures that will be displayed in local business around Hartselle. On the stage, the scream subsides and is replaced with the sounds of rain sticks and drumming.
Campers also performed a show for their parents, enabling them to see their artwork and performances.
Camp Co-director Jennifer Sittason said the camp was an alternative for parents who wanted to expose their children to the arts, but didn’t have money for private music or art lessons.
The cost to attend the camp was $75 for each camper, and families receive a $10 discount for each additional child that attends. Student and adult volunteers help defray the costs of the camp. Randall Key, Amy Coleman, Ethan Byrd and Macon Armistead helped with the music class; Michelle Wilson, Janise Filitrault, William Littrell and Beth Shelton helped with the art class; Anna Kate Yeager, Brantley Wilson and Briley Sandlin aided with the dance class, and Jane Walker and Dalton Nagel worked with drama students. Several other volunteers also helped with the camp.
Several local business have also provided financial support for the camp, including Steak-Out, Railroad St. Station, Slate Gallery, Josephines, Pepsi, the Rotary Club, Imprints, Remax, Greg McCaig and Dr. David Sittason.
As you look around the first floor of the building, it seems like the center’s work has been completed. Children are laughing and learning in the brightly decorated classrooms of the center, which once housed F. E. Burleson school. However, Sittason said there are still unfinished plans for both the building and the camp. Upstairs, renovations are still taking place. Work on the walls and floor remains unfinished in the balcony and the reception area. In some upstairs locations, water damage is still visible. Future plans include refurbishing the walls and floors in the reception room and balcony, adding permanent seating, and adding a new curtain for the stage.
Camp “Art”-selle may see changes as well. Plans are still being discussed to introduce a camp for junior high students (the current camp is open to children from first-sixth grade).
