Thank You Penn Treaty Special Services District for Sponsoring Portside's Summer Arts Camp 2020!

Summer is in full swing! This has been a strange and unpredictable year for everybody. Following CDC guidelines, Portside Arts Center had to pause our After School Arts Program and all children, teen and adult classes.  The Portside strived and planned countless scenarios in order to run their Summer Arts Camp this summer.   We really feel that providing kids around the community with arts education is more important than ever, and for the kids to socialize with their friends after months of isolation. Portside was prepared to take all of the precautionary measures to ensure safety to students and teachers, and to pull their resources in order to make camp a reality for kids in the area.
​
Portside is very thankful for the much needed support this year from Penn Treaty Special Services District (PTSSD), who are sponsoring this year's Summer Arts Camp. The PTSSD is a non-profit private foundation which supports non-profit organizations in Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Kensington and Port Richmond along the RIver Wards and has been a continuous support to the Portside Arts Center throughout their 11 years. This year especially, the PTSSD helped make a difference to the Portside and to the families in the community who wished to send their kids to camp this year but could not afford to due to the Covid-19 virus. Portside received scholarship applications for camp from 24 families in need of financial aid who needed to send their kids to camp this year.  The PTSSD provided the community $5,000 in scholarship funds, making it possible for these families to attend Summer Arts Camp! They also supplied Portside with funding for art supplies, and field trips (which are virtual this year.)
 
Now into the second week of camp, kids and teachers are grateful for the experiences of making artwork with friends, at a safe distance! This week is STEAM & Robotics week at camp, and the kids are busy making art that involves the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, ART, and Math.  Each child will be constructing their own personalized robots this week, and hearing from a guest speaker and architect Kevin Malawski, who will be talking about how his work incorporates art,  math, and other elements. Thank you very much Penn Treaty Special Services District for helping us make camp extra special this year!

Share