For Immediate Release
Contact: Barbara Briggie-Smith or Jordan Powers
Tel: 515.745.9438 or 630.470.5136
Email: bbsmith@desmoinesartcenter.org or jpowers@desmoinesartcenter.org
DES MOINES, IOWA (MAY 2020) – The Des Moines Art Center has opened registration for a series of virtual youth art camps this summer. A slate of virtual adult class options will be released in the coming weeks.
One-week and six-week virtual camps for youth ages 3 – 15 will begin June 22 and run through August 20. Camp classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, and mixed media will be offered, and include cartooning, manga, and fantasy art themes, amongst others. Adult classes will begin the week of July 13, with mediums ranging from drawing and painting to mosaics.
All camps and adult classes will be conducted virtually by museum studio staff and teaching artists via Zoom, the web-based video-conferencing platform. Each camp will explore a variety of visual art techniques and materials based on the camp themes. Material kits for camps will be available for purchase through the Des Moines Art Center at the time of registration and will provide all the required materials to complete the projects during the week. Families will be provided a date and time for no-contact pick up at the Art Center before the start of the camp. A material list for each camp will be provided for those who prefer to gather their own supplies or live beyond the Greater Des Moines Metro.
“The virtual summer camps provide children the opportunity to create artwork and interact with their peers from the comfort and safety of their home,” Director of Studio and Community Education and Inclusion Tracy Duran said. “The virtual camps and material kits will provide students with tools and techniques that can be utilized for continued, independent learning all summer long.”
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About the Des Moines Art Center
Recognized by international art critics as a world-class museum in the heart of the Midwest, the Des Moines Art Center, an AAM-accredited institution, has amassed an important collection with a major emphasis on contemporary art. The collection’s overriding principle is a representation of artists from the 19th century to the present, each through a seminal work. This accounts for an impressive collection that ranges from Edward Hopper’s Automat to Jasper Johns’ Tennyson, Henri Matisse’s Woman in White, Georgia O’Keeffe’s From the Lake No. 1, Francis Bacon’s Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, Bill Viola’s Ascension, and Cecily Brown’s Half-Bind.
The Art Center’s physical complex marries with the collection for a totally integrated experience. The collection is housed in three major buildings, each designed by a world-renowned architect—Eliel Saarinen, I. M. Pei, and Richard Meier. With the exception of special events, admission to the museum is free.
In September 2009, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park opened in Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park. Philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn provided funding for and donated 31 sculptures by internationally acclaimed contemporary artists to the Des Moines Art Center. The collection of sculptures by such artists as Ai Weiwei, Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Butterfield, Willem de Kooning, Mark di Suvero, Olafur Eliasson, Keith Haring, Robert Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly, Yayoi Kusama, Jaume Plensa, and Richard Serra, and Joel Shapiro is the most significant donation of artwork to the Art Center in a single gift in the museum’s history. The Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a collaboration of the Pappajohns, the City of Des Moines, the Des Moines Art Center, and numerous corporate and private donors.
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