Troy University Department of Theatre and Dance’s annual series of Summer Spotlight camps hosted children and teens of all ages interested in the world of fine arts. From the Mini Spotlighters camp to the new Studio Art Intensive for high school students, there was a little something for everyone.
The first round of Summer Spotlight camps was held from June 24-28. The Creative Drama “Mini Spotlighters” half-day camp for ages 4-7 gave kids an out-of-this-world experience celebrating the 500th birthday of the alien Meep Meep and imagining themselves as aliens from a foreign galaxy.
“There’s so many studies that show that including children in arts programs improves their literacy and social skills, but it also teaches them that it’s okay to be a little bit weird and to try things that make us a little uncomfortable and get them out of their comfort zone,” said Will Hornsby, a senior theatre education major from Phenix City, Ala. “Theatre is a great way to do that because it’s just playing dress up—they get to make their own creative choices and there’s no fear of failure.”
A joint effort with the Department of Art and Design, ComiCamp is a day camp for ages 10-14 that gives opportunities for creative children to make their own characters, stories and illustrations. The week culminates in the students showing off their very own comic books.
Alaina Bateman, a sophomore at Charles Henderson High School in Troy, was one of the first Summer Spotlight campers. Now, she’s serving as a student volunteer and helping kids develop art skills.
“I stayed with the program year after year until I aged out,” she said. “I want to be an artist when I grow up, and I love teaching kids and helping the younger ones become better artists. This camp really helped me grow my skills and I’m happy I can give back and help kids in that way now.”
The Creative Drama “Spotlighters” camp for ages 8-13 let kids explore the different sides to theatre with their production of “Alice in Wonderland.” Campers could choose to join the technology crew or be on stage as a performer.
Nia Clove, a sixth grader at Pike County Elementary School, attended Summer Spotlight for the first time and has an interest in working behind the scenes in theatre and dance.
“I didn’t want to be on stage dancing, and I’m also really good with lights,” she said. “My favorite part of the week was painting, making costumes and working on Alice’s house. I love Summer Spotlight and tech crew!”
From July 21-27, TROY hosts both high school and college students for focused intensives in the areas of performance, tech and management and film, and this year studio art was added. Heather Gladwell, 17, from Troy was one of the inaugural participants and said she hopes to see the intensive grow.
“This week definitely helped me a lot,” she said. “We worked on perspective, I’ve learned sculpting with ceramics and life drawing. We drew a lot—one of the student counselors was even a live model. I don’t have much actual classwork in art, so I wanted to have this experience. It’s been really fun. A little tiring, but fun. They call it an intensive for a reason!”
Summer Spotlight has been an annual event on the Troy Campus for over 10 years. For more information, click here.
