A camp that draws on artistic inspiration

By Peder Schaefer
Posted 8/14/18

By PEDER SCHAEFER The art is good, the workshops interesting, and the kids happy at the Warwick Center for the Arts, where summer camps, art classes, and happy kids fill the gallery located at the Kentish Armory, right next to City Hall, all summer long.

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A camp that draws on artistic inspiration

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The art is good, the workshops interesting, and the kids happy at the Warwick Center for the Arts, where summer camps, art classes, and happy kids fill the gallery located at the Kentish Armory, right next to City Hall, all summer long.

The main event happening at the Center this summer is Summer Vacation Art Camp, where for $90 a week over seven weeks kids ages 6 to 12 can learn how to draw cartoons, make sculptures, do yoga or even fold origami.     

“I love art and I like kids and I love working with them,” said camp counselor Marie Del Vicario, a rising sophomore at Toll Gate High School.

This year there are 93 campers enrolled on a rotating schedule, with around a dozen kids in each workshop offered by the Center. This allows kids and parents to pick and choose the classes that interest them and work for their schedule.

“We also offer classes, taught for adults and kids,” said Taylor Terreri, the director of WCFA and a Warwick native. “Our next upcoming class is sea glass art, and that’s on the 25th of August, and there’s one in September as well.”

Some other classes offered by WCFA in the coming months are workshop on seashells, as a well as a class called “The Art of the iPhone” which focuses on learning to use a phone camera, lenses, and picture editing apps to the fullest extent.

“We have a variety of instructors,” said Terreri. “Some are artist members, and some are members of the community.”

Terreri is the only staff member at WCFA. She grew up in Warwick, went through Warwick public schools, and then graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and Public Relations at the University of Rhode Island. She interned at the Center in college, became office manager, and then in 2015 was named director. Aside from working at WCFA, she also works at Rhode Island Hospital in the Healing Arts department.

“We try and keep all of our classes at an affordable rate,” said Terreri. “So we’re one of the most affordable art camps around. For the summer camp it’s $90 a session for the full week, so compared to RISD or other art places throughout the state, it’s on the low end, but we also strive for quality.”

The main gallery, just inside the entrance to the building, has a rotating collection of art that changes every six weeks. The current collection is called “United: A Celebration of Cultures” and is comprised of art that focuses on different cultures and backgrounds. That collection runs until August 16, and afterwards a WCFA member only show focused on the sea will take its place.

There are also art camps in the school year, during February and April vacations. Sign-ups for all these camps and classes can be done online, at “warwickcfa.com” or over the phone at 401-737-0010.

The schedules are also posted on Facebook, and sign ups should be open sometime around the holidays.  

The gallery and basement classroom can also be booked for events, such as weddings or corporate meetings.

“We actually transitioned to the Warwick Center for the Arts about two years ago,” said Terreri. “Prior to that we were the Warwick Museum of Art, and the reason why we did that was because we don’t have any permanent collections, so the word museum didn’t quite fit our mission. So as a center we’re trying to become a hub for the community, for the classes, the camps and the kids.”

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