Camps are run separately, but scheduled with the others in mind
Three arts organizations in different parts of the county — the Alexander Valley Film Society (AVFS), Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (LBC) and Transcendence Theatre Company — are joining forces this summer to create individual virtual summer camps that work in tandem with one another, allowing interested students to participate in a variety of different camps covering a handful of different activities.
While the respective organizers were adamant that the camps aren’t connected — students don’t have to attend all of them if they don’t want to, and programming is set up by the individual organizations — the film society’s filmmaking camps bookend the summer, allowing students who do choose to participate in the Luther Burbank and Transcendence programs the opportunity to use their experiences to make a film.
“The idea to do the wrap-around piece was definitely from us,” said AVFS Executive Director Kathryn Hecht. “We realized that we could use film, in a way, to help tell the story of the summer. The biggest piece of this collaboration is the timing and how we agreed to calendar in concert with one another rather than overlap, so students would have something to do every day.”
The first week of camp offered by the AVFS is a filmmaking bootcamp, which will help equip students with the tools and information necessary to start putting together their own film. The last week of camp, also offered by the AVFS, is an editing bootcamp, where participants can gather clips of footage and learn how to splice it together into a short film.
Transcendence’s camp will include a variety of classes, which include improvisation, dance, among others. The camp offered by the LBC will include music classes where students can learn to play ukulele or drums, as well as a hip-hop dance class. For both camps, students will switch between learning different things, rather than just focusing on a single area like dance or music.
The idea to join forces with neighboring arts organizations was thought up by Ashleigh Worley, education and community engagement director at the LBC.
“Right after the pandemic started, we worked to compile the arts organizations in the area. It’s something I’d been hoping to do for a few years, and it took a pandemic to make it happen,” she said.
Worley began by talking to other organization leaders about how they were thinking of handling programming, especially given the unpredictable nature of public gatherings, summer camps and education as a whole.
“Very little was known about where things were headed — we were all kind of at a standstill with how to make decisions for the future when we don’t know what the future would look like,” she said.
Out of those discussions, two other organizations — AVFS and Transcendence — stepped up and began talking about working together to create summer camp schedules that worked together to help create a series of individual, short summer camps that offer more of a survey of knowledge, rather than a deep dive.
Worley said that when it came time to plan how to structure the camp offered by the LBC, it came down to one primary question: “How do we make these experiences rich and deep and meaningful for these students?”
Local students have spent the past few months learning from computers, observing distance learning. Worley wanted to try and figure out how to set up a virtual camp without making it seem just like another week at school.
“It became apparent that if we weren’t careful, this would just feel like more school work for the kids,” Worley said. “Everyone’s kind of already burnt out … we realized we needed to shift the focus back to the fun and put heart back into it, instead of doing a three week camp that goes deeper into one area. That’s why we chose to do a shorter camp where they get bite-sized things.”
One positive of having virtual camps is that parents don’t have to worry about plans flip-flopping because of changed health orders or policy, Worley said. Rather, having the programs be digital will “give families something they can depend on.”
Another benefit, Hecht said, is that students who may not have otherwise attended a summer camp outside of their area — north county students attending Transcendence in Sonoma, for example — are now able to do so with greater ease.
“Regardless of if a student is interested in becoming a dancer, engaging in the arts is a way students can participate in an active social recovery. Connecting with classmates, connecting with friends … we have to continue to encourage young people to reach beyond what they see and hear in their world around them,” Hecht said. “This is about continuing to encourage global citizenry and meeting people from different walks of life and different places. Even if it’s just across the county, it’s important to keep connecting and engaging with different people and the arts are always good conduits of that — to engage us in and explore different cultures.”
Camp Schedules
June 22-26
Students (fifth grade and up) take the Alexander Valley Film Society’s Filmmaking Bootcamp. Students will be prepped to capture footage of themselves and their families during the rest of the summer camps. Free.
June 29-July 17 (students can choose one of three weeklong sessions)
Students (fifth grade and up) head to the Luther Burbank Center’s Summer Arts Camp for hip-hop dance, ukulele and singing for three weeks. Free.
From July 27-31
Students (ages 7 to 12) attend the Transcendence Theatre Company camps for theater, improv, dance and movement. Fee-based, though scholarships are available
Aug. 3-7
Students (fifth grade and up) return to the Alexander Valley Film Society’s Editing Bootcamp to put together their final footage from the summer. Free.
