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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Sisters young people enjoy art camp
By Jim Cornelius

A piece of performance art... photo by Brad Tisdel

Creativity abounded earlier this month at an annual art camp at Camp Caldera along the shores of Blue Lake west of Sisters.

Local children, many of them participants in the SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program -- 51 in all, gathered to make reading come alive through music, visual arts and dance. The program is part of the ReAct program designed to meld literature and acting for children.

According to activity director Brad Tisdel, the program had five components: environment, horses, visual arts, dance/drama and music.

"We really want them to embrace their creativity," Tisdel said.

Artists Kit Stafford, Dennis McGregor and Tisdel worked with the students to "perform" a story in the morning, then they created activities to elaborate on the story throughout the afternoon.

Each day also offered a group activity, including the creation of a student-lettered "Camp Caldera" sign (pictured) laid out with the children's own bodies on the dock at Blue Lake.

The human letters were created by McGregor, who was impressed at the enthusiasm the children brought to their artistic endeavor.

"At this age, all kids are artists," McGregor said. "They're not afraid to dance or paint or play music or anything."

They are uninhibited about calling themselves artists, too, McGregor noted.

When the directors asked them to proclaim "I am an artist!" the children sang out with gusto, McGregor reported.

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