TUNKHANNOCK — Children from ages 5 to 12 utilized their creativity during the holiday break when they attended Holiday Camp at the Dorothy Sheldon Art Studio (next to Dietrich Theater) Dec.26-28. Artists-in-residence Steve and Amy Colley gave children a different project every day — a day of pottery, a day of making trash to treasure, and a day of drawing and painting.
Participants made sculptures using a pottery wheel on Dec. 26. Molding lumps of gray clay, a few children made bowls while others made pitchers. Seven-year-old Parker Cosklo, Greenfield Twp., and his cousin Dominic Antoniato molded drinking cups. A couple girls took a more creative approach. Eight-year-old Mary Boecker, Tunkhannock, molded a little butterfly and a sun on top of her bowl.
“It was the first thing that came to me,” she said.
Mary’s 6-year-old sister Jane Boecker created a fox out of clay.
Kids also created items on Dec. 27 but this time they used recycled items. Inspired by Paris, France, where she lived for three years, 4-year-old Grace Nieko, who currently lives in Baltimore, MD, made an Eiffel Tower. Using a tissue box as a base, she stacked small paper cups and a medicine bottle to create the famous monument.
Six-year-old Winter Meyers, of Tunkhannock, glued paper flowers and paper plants to a recycled cylinder-shaped item she used as a flower pot. She also glued feathers to add decoration.
“It’s a great thing for the kids,” Winter’s father Roger said about the Holiday Camp. “It’s a great opportunity for them to create and express themselves.”
The children added color to their sculptures by painting them on Dec. 28. Jane Boecker used red paint for her fox sculpture while her sister Mary also used red paint for the wings of her butterfly she sculpted on her bowl.
The Colleys have been hosting the Holiday Camp since the Dietrich Theater reopened in 2001. They live and work in the studio and also host a summer event called Camp Create, in which autistic students create and perform in plays at the Waverly Community House. They enjoy hosting these events because they give kids the opportunity to use their imagination and create things.
“It’s great to see all the different things kids would make,” said Steve. “It’s one of our favorite things to do.”
