Explorations V
Summer Camp 2010 will be held for nine weeks, June 14 through August 13. This summer, Explorations V is introducing a new camp for children 4 & 5 years of age. Called Story Book Camp, it will feature fun topics like Beach Babies!, Movers & Shakers!, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!, Mini-Cooks and more. The Museum will also continue to offer X5 Adventure Camp for 6-12 year olds with sessions such as Get Fit!, Hollywood Producer!, Masters of Art and CSI X5: Crime Science. Both camps have weekly themes and include hands-on activities, museum exploration, outdoor play, and snack creation.

Children can be registered for full day (9am-5pm) or half day (9am-1pm/1-5pm) camps. Full day pricing for museum members is $125 per child per week. The full day fee for non-members is $150 per child per week. Half day sessions are $65 per child per week for museum members and $80 per child per week for non-members. Sibling discounts are available. Early drop-off and late pick up can be arranged for an additional fee. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required to hold a place in camp.

To register by phone using a credit card or to obtain additional information call the museum at 863-687-3869.

Florida Dance Theatre
Three options are available for children (and adults!) with a desire to learn how to dance. First is 10th Annual Summer Youth Dance Camp for boys and girls ages 6-10. This camp is part of the “DANCE DIMENSIONS “ program funded by The George W. Jenkins Fund from within The Community Foundation of Greater Lakeland. Camp runs July 5 – 30 and consists of 4 sessions that are one week long each.
Classes run from 9:00am to 5:00pm and include include Ballet, Musical Theatre Jazz, HipHop, Acting, Ethnic Dances, and Art.

Regular Tuition $150 per week, but camp is FREE to students who qualify for the Free School Lunch Program. Students that qualify for the reduced lunch program can receive a discount. In order to qualify for the free or reduced tuition, parents will need to supply proof of participation in the Free or Reduced School Lunch Programs. Another great opportunity is available to needy students: thirty students on the free school lunch program will be chosen to receive a scholarship for the 2010-2011 season of classes at the Academy of Florida Dance Theatre.

The second option from Florida Dance Theatre is the Summer Intensive. This is two weeks of all day, intense training for intermediate, advanced, and pre-professional students who want to push their skills. The Junior Intensive for ages 6 – 9, and the Junior Division for ages 7 – 14 will run June 14 -26 . The Senior Division for ages 15 -25 will run June 21 – July 2. Students interested in the Summer Intensive will need to audition for placement.

Finally, in July, FDT will be offering open classes for all ages in the evenings. These classes will take place July 12 – August 6, and will include Pre Ballet, Ballet, Jazz, and Hip Hop.

For more information or to register for either of these three options, call Florida Dance Theatre at 863-802-0399.

Lakeland Community Theatre
For children who are more theatrically inclined, Lakeland Community Theatre’s Summer Camp will take place July 19 – August 6. Classes include Improvisation, Dance, Music, Vocal Technique, Movement, Audition Technique, and more. Children ages 11 – 15 can participate all three weeks, while classes for ages 6 – 10 are only offered in July.

Tuition for July 19 – 23, ages 6 – 15, is $199. For July 19 -30, ages 6 – 15, is $385. For 11 – 15 year olds to participate in week three only, the cost is $199, but they can enroll in all three weeks for $499. Special rates also available based on need and families enrolling multiple students. Two need-based scholarships are also available. Call 603-7529 or visit www.lakelandcommunitytheatre.com to sign up or get more information.

Polk Museum of Art
PMoA’s SummerArt Camp for children ages 5 – 13 will take place June 14 – August 6. Sessions are two weeks long each, and four sessions will be offered during the summer. Students may enroll for one, two or three classes per day. This year, the theme for SummerArt Camp is “Modern Art… Up, Up, and Away!” and each session will focus on the fun, creative, and interesting movements that took place in 20th century art. Topics will include everything from Art Nouveau, Cubism, Surrealism, and Minimalism to Pop Art and Computer Art, and classes will be offered in Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Mixed Media, Wearable Art, Digital Photography, Performance Play, and more.

Tuition for SummerArt Camp is $100 per class, per student for Museum members, and $115 per class, per student for non-members. Discounts are given when a student takes more than one class.

For more information or to enroll, call 863-688-5423 or visit www.PolkMuseumofArt.org/classes.

Okay parents, pick up those phones, check those websites, and get your kids doing something artistic this summer!

photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local

Want Creative Kids? Put Them in Creative Summer Camps

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photo credit: Chuck Welch for Lakeland Local

Tashtego Three Years Ago

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The first one is simply titled, Joseph Raffael, and here’s where it gets impressive: these watercolor paintings of flowers are around 5 feet tall by 7 feet wide. If you’ve ever attempted to paint with watercolor, you know how amazing it is that he works on that scale. For the 10 paintings in this exhibition, the artist, Joseph Raffael (in case you didn’t figure that out by the name of the show), worked from bouquets of flowers that he grows in his garden in the South of France. His style is not photo-realistic, nor is it impressionistic, but falls somewhere in between the two.

Artwork by Kenneth Treister. Courtesy of the artist.

Both exhibitions are on display January 23 – April 4.

The opening reception for the exhibitions is on January 22 at 6:00pm, and will begin with a lecture about Joseph Raffael by Nancy Hoffman, the exhibition organizer and owner of Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City. Admission to the reception is free for Museum members and $10 for non-members.

A separate reception/book signing will be held in honor of Kenneth Treister on February 11 at 6:30pm, at which time he will speak about his work. After the lecture, he will be available to sign copies of his newly published book, Havana Forever: A Pictorial and Cultural History of an Unforgettable City. Admission to that reception is also free for Museum members, and $10 for non-members.

Giant Flowers and Vibrant Landscapes Coming to Polk Museum of Art

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PMoA@43: Forty-Three Years of Service to Minds and Hearts. Polk Museum of Art: 1966-2009 (ISBN: 978-0-9794814-5-1) was authored by Dr. James Gordon Rogers and Ann Gurley Rogers, respectively a Professor of Art History and a Library Specialist at Florida Southern College. It relates the near half-a-century old history of the PMoA, with its various missions, locations and activities inside and outside the museum proper. There are as well a lot of people stories and histories of the directors, curators, benefactors and volunteers. Museum and other local archives as well as personal interviews have been used to wrote and illustrate the text. The book helpfully lists various persons involved with the museum throughout the years and contains a name index.

The 13 inch by 11 inch, 189 pages hardcover sells for $50 ($40 for Museum members). The book is available at the Museum store; you can also order a copy online.

New Book on the Polk Museum of Art

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Tomorrow night, November 17, Polk Theatre will host the next installment of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. This week, Producer/Director Katrina Brown will be in town for the screening and talk-back of her film Traces of the Trade. The film tells the story of Brown’s ancestors, the largest slave-trading family in New England, and how her family is now struggling with taking public action given what they now know. The film starts at 7:30, and regular film admission prices apply.

At the same time, for you classical music lovers, Imperial Symphony Orchestra will present its Symphonic Reflections Masterworks concert at the Lakeland Center’s Youkey Theater. The concert will feature the I Vespri Siciliani Overture by Giuseppi Verdi, Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra by Claude Debussy featuring the ISO’s own Ann Satterfield on clarinet, and Rustic Wedding Symphony by Karl Goldmark. Contact the ISO for ticket information: 834-8111.

Thursday, the 19th, is a crazy arts day.

The first event is Polk Museum of Art’s Gems & Jewels Artist Market. This event runs 10am – 4pm in the Museum’s lobby and student gallery, and will feature seven local and regional jewelry and wearables artists. Stop by on your lunch break to shop for gifts for the jewelry lovers in your life. Admission is free.

That evening, you music lovers have two choices. The Bacon Brothers Band will be performing at Polk Theatre, and local band Juniper RED will be the opening act. In case you haven’t heard yet, the Bacon Brothers are actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael Bacon. This is your chance to discover your own Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, so take advantage of it! Tickets start at $25, and the performance starts at 7:30.

At the same time, the Harrison School for the Arts will present its Fall Symphony Orchestra Concert. Contact the school’s box office for tickets: 499-2939 or visit their website.

On Friday, Polk Museum of Art will have a Curator Tour of the exhibition The Surreal Photography of Jerry Uelsmann, 12:15 – 1:00pm. Daniel E. Stetson, the Museum’s Executive Director, will lead the tour, which is included with Museum admission. Later that evening, the Museum will host its quarterly View & Review. This time, the event is geared toward middle and high school students who are preparing their portfolios for art school admission. Artist Rick Olivo will be the guest critic. Young artists should pre-register by calling the Museum’s Education Department at 863-688-5423. The cost is $15 for the artist, and $5 for audience members.

Saturday will be hopping as well. Polk Museum of Art will be hosting two children’s events: Breakfast with Santa, and the Elves Shelves Gift Shoppe. Breakfast with Santa is an opportunity for the kids to literally have breakfast with Santa, and then enjoy a fun art workshop afterward. It starts at 9:00am and costs $15 per person. Children must be accompanied by an adult and pre-registration is required. The Elves Shelves Gift Shoppe will be open throughout the day. This special secret shop is just for kids and will feature low-cost gifts that they can pick out for family and friends. They’ll also have the opportunity to make their own wrapping paper to wrap their selections. The Shop will be open 9:00am 3:00pm and admission is free.

Explorations V will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday with their Pilgrim Day. Bring the kids for early American activities like rope making, candle dipping, butter churning, quill writing, and building tin can lanterns. Pilgrim Day is included with regular admission.

Whew!! What an art-filled week! It’s going to be fun.

Busy Week Ahead for Lakeland’s Arts Scene

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Not at the Lakeland Regional Medical Center. They’re operating for a couple of hours Downtown at the Farmer’s Market.

This isn’t a gruesome Halloween-inspired surgery, but a pumpkin cutting contest to benefit VISTE.

Starting at 9:30 am, area doctors will use their mad medical skills to turn benign gourds into menacing works of art. Sponsored by the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, the event is spectator friendly. Friends, family, and interested onlookers are encouraged to cheer on their favorite mad doctor. At the end of the contest, the carved pumpkins are auctioned to raise funds for VISTE. The younger fans (3-10) can work on crafts, and everyone can join in the costume contest.

It’s three hours of pumpkin carving madness for a good cause.

Dr. Scissorhands is 9:30 to Noon, October 31st at the Downtown Farmer’s Market at 200 North Kentucky

Photo (C) 2009 by LDDA