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Folk Arts for Kids program on tap

Weeklong classes open to youth, kindergarten to fifth-grade students; set for July 9 to Aug. 11

ELKINS — The Augusta Heritage Center will offer a creative journey and cultural immersion for children this summer with the Augusta Folk Arts for Kids program. All theme weeks include a unique weeklong day camp for elementary school students to explore arts and crafts, music, dance and folklore through a variety of media. “We are thrilled to have such wonderful Folk Arts for Kids workshop leaders with us this summer,” Augusta Heritage Center Director Beth King said. “Each of the teachers is a talented artist as well as an exceptional teacher.” Registration is currently open at www.augustaheritagecenter.org. Participants must have completed kindergarten by the start of the session. For additional information, call the Augusta Heritage Center at 304-637-1209. “It is our goal for Folk Arts for Kids classes to coincide with the theme of each week of the Augusta summer sessions. We hope that the kids will come home with a deeper understanding of traditional music, dance, craft and folklore. Hopefully, it will spur conversations between parents and children and seed curiosity for years to come,” said Becky Hill, Augusta’s events coordinator. Classes run from 9 a.m. to noon and 1- 4 p.m. with a lunch break with a parent or chaperone. Folk Arts for Kids classes scheduled are: ¯ Exploring Cajun Culture with Megan Brown, July 9-14, during Cajun & Classic Country Music Week. ¯ Art with Soul with Sarah Ferguson, July 16-21, during Swing & Blues Week. ¯ Augusta Explorers with Emily Prentice, July 30-Aug. 4, during Bluegrass Week. ¯ Exploring Art Through Time with Kylie Proudfoot-Payne, Aug. 6-11, during Old-Time and Vocal Week. In Exploring Cajun Culture, Brown will lead students through a week immersed in Cajun culture. They will focus on five topics, Mardi Gras, food, music and instruments, holiday celebrations and dancing. Each day, students will learn a little history and French vocabulary relevant to each topic, followed by an art project or field trip to Cajun music classes on campus. Students will build their own masks and capuchons (hats for Mardi Gras), dye and paque eggs, make Acadian flags, learn some dance moves and even get a chance to cook up a Cajun dish. Brown, originally from Tepetate, La., grew up to the sound of Cajun music at her grandparent’s restaurant. Singing all her life, Brown took to Cajun music and with it the French language. Joining first with her accordionist brother, Briggs Brown, she then went on to play with such musicians and groups as Ryan Brunet and Les Malfecteurs, The Pine Leaf Boys, The Lafayette Rhythm Devils and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys among others. In Art with Soul, artist and teacher Ferguson will lead an action packed week of creativity, arts and crafts, music, movement and adventure. Participants will learn about the essence of blues and swing music through a variety of experiences. A native of West Virginia, Ferguson holds an art education degree from West Liberty State College. She has taught art in Barbour County schools and many art camps throughout the state, as well as given private art lessons for more than 20 years. She currently teaches with the ArtsBank program in Randolph County schools and at Randolph County Community Arts Center, and enjoys creating artwork in a variety of mediums with a specialty in watercolor and pastel. In Augusta Explorers with Prentice, children will focus on Appalachian culture and the great outdoors. Class activities will include nature walks, plant identification, weaving, party games, ghost stories, square dancing, printmaking, singing and much more. Augusta Explorers will earn merit badges as they take in all that Augusta has to offer. “Expect to be messy, curious and creative,” Prentice said. Prentice is an alumna of Davis & Elkins College where she majored in fine arts. Her creative practice centers around illustration, fiber arts, collage and anything DIY. Her art is featured at Buxton and Landstreet Gallery in Thomas. She also teaches children and teen classes and camps at Elkins Sewing Center. In Exploring Art Through Time with artist and teacher Proudfoot-Payne, children will explore visual art and heritage crafts through the creation of a variety of art projects. Students will paint, print, weave, bind, mold, sew, experiment, square dance and much more as they learn about how the heritage crafts are connected to the world today. They will have the opportunity to experience the wider Augusta program through coordination with other Augusta instructors. Proudfoot-Payne lives in Barbour County and graduated from Davis & Elkins College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and human services and art education. She currently teaches with ArtsBank in Randolph County schools. She is an award-winning landscape painter and dabbles in a variety of different art mediums. The Augusta summer sessions kick off on July 9 with Cajun and Creole Week and Classic Country Music Week. Craft, arts and folklore classes accompany each theme week, and public concerts will take place each Tuesday and Thursday evening. In addition to classes throughout the day, evening mini-courses are available for all ages and open to the public. For a complete listing, visit www.augustaheritagecenter.org. The grand finale to the summer sessions is the Augusta Heritage Center Festival on Aug. 12 in Elkins City Park. Activities include a juried craft show, children’s activities, craft demonstrations and performances. The festival will conclude with the festival concert featuring Mountain Stage with Larry Groce. A Center of Excellence for more than 40 years, the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College offers several week-long programs featuring instruction in many traditions of music, dance, craft and folklore. Concerts, dances, a summer festival and other heritage arts events are part of the Augusta experience. The Augusta Heritage Center is also home to significant collections of field recordings, oral histories, photographs, instruments and Appalachian art. Programs offered by the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College are presented with financial support from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

ELKINS — The Augusta Heritage Center will offer a creative journey and cultural immersion for children this summer with the Augusta Folk Arts for Kids program. All theme weeks include a unique weeklong day camp for elementary school students to explore arts and crafts, music, dance and folklore through a variety of media.

“We are thrilled to have such wonderful Folk Arts for Kids workshop leaders with us this summer,” Augusta Heritage Center Director Beth King said. “Each of the teachers is a talented artist as well as an exceptional teacher.”

Registration is currently open at www.augustaheritagecenter.org. Participants must have completed kindergarten by the start of the session. For additional information, call the Augusta Heritage Center at 304-637-1209.

“It is our goal for Folk Arts for Kids classes to coincide with the theme of each week of the Augusta summer sessions. We hope that the kids will come home with a deeper understanding of traditional music, dance, craft and folklore. Hopefully, it will spur conversations between parents and children and seed curiosity for years to come,” said Becky Hill, Augusta’s events coordinator.

Classes run from 9 a.m. to noon and 1- 4 p.m. with a lunch break with a parent or chaperone. Folk Arts for Kids classes scheduled are:

¯ Exploring Cajun Culture with Megan Brown, July 9-14, during Cajun & Classic Country Music Week.

¯ Art with Soul with Sarah Ferguson, July 16-21, during Swing & Blues Week.

¯ Augusta Explorers with Emily Prentice, July 30-Aug. 4, during Bluegrass Week.

¯ Exploring Art Through Time with Kylie Proudfoot-Payne, Aug. 6-11, during Old-Time and Vocal Week.

In Exploring Cajun Culture, Brown will lead students through a week immersed in Cajun culture. They will focus on five topics, Mardi Gras, food, music and instruments, holiday celebrations and dancing. Each day, students will learn a little history and French vocabulary relevant to each topic, followed by an art project or field trip to Cajun music classes on campus. Students will build their own masks and capuchons (hats for Mardi Gras), dye and paque eggs, make Acadian flags, learn some dance moves and even get a chance to cook up a Cajun dish.

Brown, originally from Tepetate, La., grew up to the sound of Cajun music at her grandparent’s restaurant. Singing all her life, Brown took to Cajun music and with it the French language. Joining first with her accordionist brother, Briggs Brown, she then went on to play with such musicians and groups as Ryan Brunet and Les Malfecteurs, The Pine Leaf Boys, The Lafayette Rhythm Devils and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys among others.

In Art with Soul, artist and teacher Ferguson will lead an action packed week of creativity, arts and crafts, music, movement and adventure. Participants will learn about the essence of blues and swing music through a variety of experiences.

A native of West Virginia, Ferguson holds an art education degree from West Liberty State College. She has taught art in Barbour County schools and many art camps throughout the state, as well as given private art lessons for more than 20 years. She currently teaches with the ArtsBank program in Randolph County schools and at Randolph County Community Arts Center, and enjoys creating artwork in a variety of mediums with a specialty in watercolor and pastel.

In Augusta Explorers with Prentice, children will focus on Appalachian culture and the great outdoors. Class activities will include nature walks, plant identification, weaving, party games, ghost stories, square dancing, printmaking, singing and much more. Augusta Explorers will earn merit badges as they take in all that Augusta has to offer.

“Expect to be messy, curious and creative,” Prentice said.

Prentice is an alumna of Davis & Elkins College where she majored in fine arts. Her creative practice centers around illustration, fiber arts, collage and anything DIY. Her art is featured at Buxton and Landstreet Gallery in Thomas. She also teaches children and teen classes and camps at Elkins Sewing Center.

In Exploring Art Through Time with artist and teacher Proudfoot-Payne, children will explore visual art and heritage crafts through the creation of a variety of art projects. Students will paint, print, weave, bind, mold, sew, experiment, square dance and much more as they learn about how the heritage crafts are connected to the world today. They will have the opportunity to experience the wider Augusta program through coordination with other Augusta instructors.

Proudfoot-Payne lives in Barbour County and graduated from Davis & Elkins College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and human services and art education. She currently teaches with ArtsBank in Randolph County schools. She is an award-winning landscape painter and dabbles in a variety of different art mediums.

The Augusta summer sessions kick off on July 9 with Cajun and Creole Week and Classic Country Music Week. Craft, arts and folklore classes accompany each theme week, and public concerts will take place each Tuesday and Thursday evening. In addition to classes throughout the day, evening mini-courses are available for all ages and open to the public. For a complete listing, visit www.augustaheritagecenter.org.

The grand finale to the summer sessions is the Augusta Heritage Center Festival on Aug. 12 in Elkins City Park. Activities include a juried craft show, children’s activities, craft demonstrations and performances. The festival will conclude with the festival concert featuring Mountain Stage with Larry Groce.

A Center of Excellence for more than 40 years, the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College offers several week-long programs featuring instruction in many traditions of music, dance, craft and folklore. Concerts, dances, a summer festival and other heritage arts events are part of the Augusta experience. The Augusta Heritage Center is also home to significant collections of field recordings, oral histories, photographs, instruments and Appalachian art.

Programs offered by the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College are presented with financial support from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

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