Art in the Park – Artsy explorations for kids and teens

Cheri Patrick-Wilson of Kidz First Ptbo is offering half-day arts programming for kids aged 6 to 11 in the mornings, and teens from 12 to 16 in the afternoons this July.

“Child development and art are my two passions. Art education benefits children across all domains of development,” said Patrick-Wilson, a Registered Early Childhood Educator with many years of arts and culture programming experience. “However, they can’t sit at a table all day. Children have varying attention spans, physical needs, and interests. I wanted to develop a program that was truly inclusive and allowed children the freedom to do what they enjoyed and make choices at their own pace.”

Art in the Park will give kids the opportunity to rest in the shade or play at the playground, and will provide opportunities to explore artistic expression through sketching, watercolour, paints, collage, printmaking and more. The program will take place at Nichol’s Oval, where the wild spaces and riverside will inspire kids to practice their naturalist skills of observing and listening to find beauty in the world around them.

“My art teaching approach is process-based and emergent,” said Patrick-Wilson. “That is to say, I follow the interests of the students and allow them to choose their own learning path. I do a short demo of technique or new material and then the students explore the materials in the ways they wish. I involve them in the planning, asking what they would like to learn or what materials they would like to have. We do not end up with cookie-cutter art but with inspired and confident young artists.”

Interested parents can contact Cheri Patrick-Wilson for more information or to register their child for Art in the Park at cheripatrick@hotmail.ca