Almost 5 Camp 2015 - The Good, the Not-So-Good, and the Sticky

Hi all! Miranda K. here blogging from the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth. 

My first few weeks at the Modern were busy with creating spreadsheets to get organized for camp and make sure that all of the kids who are registered were accounted for in our lists and charts. I helped create volunteer packets and we held our orientation for said volunteers - just going over logistics and expectations. My boss, Tiffany Wolf, is an angel and I've already had so much fun working with her. The staff here in the Modern's education department is all very close and welcoming. I've felt right at home. My desk is in the same office as the head curator of education, intimidating but cool! One of our walls is entirely glass and looks out at Richard Serra's "Vortex" - a nice view until a swarm of children discovers how loud they can be inside of it (groan). Overall, I had a wonderful beginning to my internship pre-camp weeks!

Now this week has been full of wrangling children like they're cats, paint covered tiny hands, and challenging four year olds to quiet competitions as we walk through the galleries in not-so-straight lines. It is almost the end of Almost 5 Camp here at the Modern and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad. 

The camp is being taught by a local artist, Micah Yarborough, a UNT CVAD alumna who is currently working at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. He's a wacky, passionate teacher and the kids love him. The week began by looking at Ellsworth Kelly's shapes from the permanent collection - red panel, blue panel, and green panel. After exploring the topic of shapes and colors, we discussed how the panels all together resembled the form of a fish. When we went upstairs into the studio, the kids were given three to four shapes (all had to be different colors) and were told to make an animal out of them. Some actually resembled animals, and others looked like very "imaginative"renderings of their favorite animals haha. 

Once they had finished working on these simple tasks, we went back into the gallery to look at a piece in the current show, Framing Desire, which is a look at the museum's photography collection. Specifically, the kids were taken to look at a film by an Icelandic artist: Ragnar Kjartansson. The film features the band The National playing their song "Sorrow" over and over for six hours. So from this, the kids have been creating their own cardboard guitars and amps. Micah even brought in his electric guitar and let them play a few strums each. My favorite comment during their playing was "My mom doesn't like a lot of noise, but I LIKE A LOT OF NOISE!!!" I also enjoy when Micah asks the kids a question like "Has anyone ever played a guitar before?" and they all jump around excitedly and yell and raise their hands "I HAVEN'T!!" instead of saying that they have haha.

So, the last few days have consisted of constructing, painting, and decorating their guitars and amps. Tomorrow is their show opening (popcorn and punch is obviously involved) and their parents (or people) will come look at the work they created during camp. 

I'm excited to see the finished products (we still have a bit of work to do tomorrow). There are a few kids who have singled me out as their favorite. The awkward "I want to live with you" is always funny and I brush it off. After this week we have prep week for the 5-6 camp. I'm excited to have slightly older kids to compare their levels of energy and their creativity. 

I've attached a photo of our prototype Ellsworth Kelly shapes and our guitar and amps, along with a snapshot of snack time today.