MIGRANT YOUTH EXPLORE CULTURE AT ART CAMP posted 7/14/05
Their projects will be used to create a downtown mural

Camp kids show their work to Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking.

Migrant youth are exploring the Aztec and Mayan cultures this week during a unique art camp staffed by Adrian College staff and students. The week culminates with the first through eighth graders designing and creating their own glazed clay tiles, which will be compiled into a 12-by-10-foot outdoor relief mural in downtown Adrian. The completed mural will be permanently displayed on the south wall of the Learning Works and Wonders building, 131 S. Winter St. in downtown Adrian.

Children from the county are participating this week in an art camp with a similar theme on the Adrian College campus. They will produce their own clay tiles that will be incorporated into a mural displayed next to that of the migrant youth.

“The murals will act as a reminder of the partnership between the two art camps with youth from a wide range of backgrounds and economic circumstance and how art and expression can bridge those differences,” said Pi Benio, event organizer and chair of Adrian’s art department.

This is the third year for the on-campus camp, and the first time ever for the migrant art camp.

Funding for the migrant camp has been provided by various local individuals and businesses, the Lenawee County Homeless Education Program and the city. Adrian College professors and art education students, in addition to professional artists, have generously donated their time to the project.

Both camps are open daily July 11 -15. The art camp for migrant youth runs 6 – 9 p.m. at Witt Camp, 2352 Stearns Highway, Deerfield, Mich. The art camp on campus takes place in the art studio in the Caine Student Center, and in a tent next to Mahan Hall; it runs 9 a.m. – noon, and 1 – 4 p.m.