Art

2024 Calendar

HIGH SCHOOL
Grades 9-12 next school year

Session 1 June 26 – July 7
Session 2 July 10 – July 21

INTERMEDIATE
Grades 7-9 next school year

Session 3 July 24 – August 4
Session 4 August 7 – August 18

Blue Lake’s Art Colony motivates and challenges students through teaching the fundamental skills and concepts used in creating visual art. Classes emphasize creativity as an integral ingredient in the production of an artistic work, regardless of the individual’s level of experience or ability. Students also learn the importance of art as a means of personal expression.

Under the guidance of the faculty, art majors are introduced to a diverse mixture of two and three-dimensional media. Instructors present techniques and materials normally not available in traditional art programs. Each day, students receive five hours of class instruction, including faculty-guided afternoon studio work time, which is used for independent in-depth exploration.

 

Students can complete their instructional day by choosing a Minor, allowing them to experience another area of interest while at camp. Students also have the opportunity to attend performances presented as a part of the Summer Arts Festival, as well as participate in recreation, camp activities, and art-focused educational events in the evening. All art students display their work in the Art Show at the conclusion of each session.

Blue Lake’s Art Faculty members are selected for their expertise in each of the course offerings, and are outstanding educators or practicing artists committed to the success of each student.

Selecting Courses:

Art majors participate in three course areas at camp, in addition to daily studio time. Art courses are defined by the media in which the students work. All students participate in Drawing & Painting as their first course. The second course is chosen by the student during online enrollment, with offerings including: Ceramics, Fibers, or Printmaking. The third course will be determined by the Art Director just prior to camp, and will highlight the professional specialties of faculty in residence that session. Examples might include: screen-printing, mixed media, or metal arts.

All students study drawing and painting as their first course and then choose an additional course when submitting their online application:

Drawing and Painting

Drawing and Painting stresses the importance of observational drawing skills. Materials may include the use of pencil, charcoal, pastel, ink, tempera, watercolor, acrylic, and collage or a mix.

Ceramics

Ceramics focuses on basic principles of construction and hand building. Students will acquire knowledge of form, volume, and space relationships using slab construction, extrusion, coil building, tile making, and slip casting. Ceramic decoration includes instruction in both glazing and non-traditional methods. Wheel throwing may be included, and students may participate in a Raku firing.

Printmaking/Book Arts

Printmaking/Book Arts experiments with various printing processes such as linoleum cuts, mono-prints, collagraphs, woodcuts, and etchings. Printmaking is varied, repeatable and tactile, with images printed as unique works, as multiples, or as variations, using an array of processes. The instructor may also include book arts techniques from papermaking, accordion fold books, pamphlets, and drum leaf books, with a variety of bindings.

Fiber Arts

Fiber Arts explores elements of traditional craft alongside contemporary fiber arts aesthetics. The studio provides a variety of instruction in the use of yarns, threads, floss, fabric, embellishment items, natural materials, and dyeing techniques depending on instructor specialty. Small looms and sewing machines may be incorporated and dyeing silk may be included in the class.

The Art Director will add a third course to each student’s schedule based upon the specialties of faculty in residence that session. Options include:

Mixed Media

Mixed Media will combine various techniques and materials, allowing a teacher to focus on their own special interests. From collage, metals, papermaking, sculpture, and assemblage to found object, papercutting, and three dimensional design, projects can range from realistic to abstract and non-objective

Sculpture

Sculpture will explore the use of structural principles utilizing a wide variety of materials and techniques. Both realistic and abstract sculpture may be constructed, using traditional and nontraditional materials ranging from cardboard, air dry clay, paper mâché, resin, plaster, and soapstone, to wood, concrete, found object, metals, and paper clay.

Screen Printing

Screen Printing offers an exciting introduction to a contemporary branch of printmaking. The course will consist of fundamental print techniques on various surfaces such as paper, cardboard and fabric. By utilizing screens, ink, and stencils, the class will explore abstract and objective design. Additionally, surface treatments like paint pens, block printing and stitching may be incorporated.

Metal Arts

Metal Arts will explore fundamentals of working with metal, including sawing, filing, stamping, hammering, riveting and cold joining. Copper, brass, and aluminum will be used. Various surface decoration techniques will be incorporated into the student’s artwork. While some metal work may be adorned, projects will also focus on functional or decorative pieces.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should my art camper bring?

We provide supplies required for projects in classes. We also provide individual supplies to each art camper including a pencil pouch, 2B drawing pencil, prismacolor ebony pencil, soap eraser, gum eraser, pencil sharpener, viewfinder, felt tip pen, and a small sketchbook. Campers can take these supplies home at the end of the session. We encourage campers to bring a tote bag or small backpack to carry supplies.

Will my camper have work time?

Yes! Each morning, art campers attend their classes for lectures and demonstrations. In the afternoon, they have close to two hours of work time in the studio of their choice. This is called “Studio Time” and it is dedicated time to work on projects.

Will my camper's work be displayed at the end of the session?

Yes! The Art Show is a collective celebration of the artwork produced by campers. The show will be open to the public at Marek South in central camp on the final Sunday. At the end of the show, the Visual Arts faculty will make a short presentation to celebrate the work in the show, acknowledge returning campers, and present the Outstanding Camper Award. Student artwork will be available to be removed from the show after the presentation.

bio photo of Geo Rutherford, Art Dept. Director

Geo Rutherford

Art Department Director

Geo Rutherford is a working artist, illustrator, writer, and content creator. Her artistic practice includes printmaking, artist’s books, and large-scale mixed media works focusing on notions of invasiveness, impermanence, and the unseen in relation to the Great Lakes. Geo received a BFA from Eastern Michigan University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a specialization in Printmaking and Book Arts. During the school year, she is an adjunct lecturer at…

the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, teaching 2D Concepts, and in the summer, the Art Director at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. In her spare time, she co-chairs the #whyyoumatter non-profit public art campaign. Currently, Geo lives in Sauk City, Wisconsin with her dog, Padfoot.

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