Yesterday we had the great pleasure of visiting the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA) on our field trip for our second week of summer camp. PAFA was founded in 1805 by painter and scientist Charles Willson Peale, sculptor William Rush, as well as other artists and business leaders. It is the first art museum and school in the United States of America. The current museum building, erected in 1876 and considered to be a National Historic Landmark, houses a magnificent collection of American art ranging from 18th to 19th century master paintings to contemporary work and PAFA Alumni. PAFA'S vision is that it "will be an inclusive, creative community of artists and audiences seeking education, contemplation, inspiration, and dialogue."

Portside's Minnows and Sharks groups were led by a couple of fabulous tour guides who educated the children about the different artists, works of art, time periods and themes throughout the museum. They discussed themes of American history, gender, race and social issues within the art. The kids marveled at paintings and sculptures by artists including Thomas Eakins, Mickalene Thomas, and Alice Gadzinski. The Sharks were all very excited to see a familiar painting by Kehinde Wiley amongst the collection that they had learned about in class. This past Monday, the Sharks looked at the work of Kehinde Wiley and learned about the history of classical portraiture, so it was a treat seeing many of the paintings in PAFA's collection. Meanwhile, the Minnows did a fun art exercise creating abstract images using felt. 

We go on fun and educational trips such as this one every week during summer camp, and we still have some spots available for upcoming weeks of camp! 

Our first week of summer camp here at Portside came to a close today, eight more weeks to go! We started out camp this week with stormy skies, and ended with a beautiful day at Cione Playground during free time. 

During the past week, the children have looked at an array of artists and explored different mediums including painting and sculpture. The Minnows looked at Salvadore Dali and created 'bird paintings' with sculptural elements. They also made work based on The Lorax by Dr. Seuss! The Sharks learned about artists such as Louise Nevelson, Marcelle DuChamp and Pablo Picasso, and about the history of assemblage in art. With their knowledge about balance, form and dynamism, they created their own assemblages out of cardboard and different objects, then painted over them.

On Thursday, our field trip got rained out, but we went to the movies and saw "The Secret Life of Pets 2." Everyone loved it, kids and adults. Week 2 begins next week and we can't wait to see some of the same kids returning as well as some new faces!

We still have spots available for camp. Click below to learn more and enroll!