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Maggiolly ramping up for another summer of community art camps

June 21, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

For Maggiolly, the art supply shop on Broadway, the planned five weeks worth of camps is “more art camps than we ever have done before,” Ricky Schaede clarified: “We want to offer more art camps because we think it’s a great way to get the kids away from their screens for a while.” 

Now full-time employed at the shop, Mr. Schaede is taking on the whole schedule of the programs for the entire camp schedule. As he explained, “I’ve worked, teaching kids art classes for four years or so – so, I know what they like – dragons, unicorns, all sorts of fantasy animals.

“I design the projects [for the camps]. There’s a formula we’re following but kids always have their own creativity. Last summer, we only offered half as many days of camps.”

Much more is involved, for he has plans for making animals’ heads and sculptures, as well as painting lots of different things and scenes, in so many ways. 

The five weeks are divided between two weeks of day camps, one week entirely given as one camp and, then, two more weeks of day camps. 

For the day camps, they are divided into mornings and afternoons, as separate time slots and different projects. While each section has its own cost, there are discounts for booking five or more programs.

The formula they have designed works like this: “We use plaster gauze – like the plaster casts they used to put on a broken arm – for the head masks and sculptures,” Mr. Schaede said. “It depends on the project. We’ll do paintings of landscapes, animals, abstract. I encourage students to be unique and learn from the experience.” 

Acrylic paints, oil pastels and collage elements are the materials applied to the panels, to create all sorts of pictures. They are all included in the cost of the programs.

A land of kids’ artistic fantasy. 

“So, we’re offering four weeks of day camps, single day programs; we have lots of repeat kids – lots of new kids, coming though our programs. These programs are designed for kids from ages six to 13.

“There is one five-day camp. The five-day camp will run sequentially. It is more, like, the student will get the experience. One day, we’ll prepare some panels. Then, we move through various stages, providing more than one project. I want to them to have an idea what it is to be an artist.

“This is a camp for the older kids, 9 to 15.”

The structure for the five-day camp is all day every day. Students are asked to bring a lunch. A wide range of an artist’s work is to be covered, so that the participants are offered a reasonable grounding to being an artist. It is a life of eternally learning but this camp is mean to set their feet on the path, to take sincerely, on some lever or another.

As humans have been producing art since we lived in caves, art is obviously an intrinsic part of our make-up. Camps such as these are not necessarily meant to be a guarantee of greatness but they are a good beginning to touching our most fundamental roots.

To create art is to open a person’s eyes to viewing the world in wider ways and learning to reflect what they see, either as it is or as an extension of their imaginations.

Looking back at the programs they have run so far at Maggiolly’s, Mr. Schaede reflected, “We have had very good reaction. Personally, the satisfaction, definitely, is seeing students who don’t have much self confidence. When they come and do a project, their self confidence and self worth increases. To see the students enjoy the process to making the art so much, is really wonderful.”

To teach is to learn and Mr. Schaede is happy to note that he has learned. “There’s pretty much infinite ways to approach a subject from the perspective of my students. Just in your studio, you can develop blind spots but being so much in the public and working with the kids, as I am, there is a whole spectrum of ways to see things much better than if I was locked in my studio.

“What inspires me – it depends, could be movie or shows. Also, I find great inspiration from teaching kids art and they inspire me to make more art. Seeing the kids’ love for art inspires me to create more art.”

The relationship between himself and Maggiolly’s owner, Emilia Perry, “grew organically. Back in high school, I just bought my first set of paints from Emilia. I started working for Euphoria, when I started my real passion for art, until she offered me to come and teach art here.”

While Mr. Schaede did not take visual art classes in school – he took drama and speaking skills – he did study painting in Europe for two years “and my dad is an artist. My dad was showing me art as a kid, how to do things. 

“I feel as though I’m reflecting that time back now. I love teaching the kids so they can have an positive experience with art.”

To anyone wanting to paint, wondering what to paint or create, he encourages them, “Think about what excites you and do that in different directions. Come and take a class to show you how to use the tools and understand more about it.”

His philosophy: “I always think it’s important to follow what excites you in art.”

To learn more about the summer camps at Maggiolly, and to book a space, go to the store – it is very pretty – at 158 Broadway; call them at 519-942-9560 or online at www. maggiollyart.com

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