Press release

Kids of Summer Art Exhibit

The sounds of hammers cracking tiles no longer echo in the Fort East Martello art studios. The eager voices of children as they create art are silent. Paint brushes, glue guns, printing plates and carving tools have been put away, yet all is not over. Eight weeks of summer art fun have culminated in an impressive display of children’s art. The Key West Art and Historical Society will be hosting “The Kids of Summer Art Exhibit” at Fort East Martello Museum and Garden at 3501 South Roosevelt Blvd. on Saturday August 20th 2005 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

Over 75 young artists from grades one thru six participated in the ArtCamp 2005 summer session and produced, with the help of Education Coordinator Suzanne Pereira, art educator Anika Wong, and artist Jennifer Blomberg, an eclectic collection of art which included self portrait puppets, kites, paper quilts, relief, abstract and found object sculpture, jewelry and Seminole Indian arts, tunnel books, printmaking, assemblage, collage and photography.

The Key West Art and Historical Society uses its extensive collection of folk art by Mario Sanchez and Stanley Papio as a basis for many children’s art classes and this year the printmaking, tunnel book and sculpture classes reflect this intent. The young artists learned all about folk art after participating in a field trip to the Custom House where they viewed the Mario Sanchez folk art exhibit “Listening To Our Ancestors”.

The ArtCamp summer session ended with two weeks of pinhole photography classes . Grades five and six students explored the history and military architecture of Fort East Martello Museum and documented the fort using pinhole cameras. Students worked closely with photography teacher and artist Ms. Jodell Roberts, both in the field and in the dark room developing and printing paper negatives and then created handmade photo journals which displayed not only their photos but also notations that included historical and architectural facts.

This year twenty eight students were awarded scholarships for ArtCamp 2005 through generous donations from local businesses. Among these are the TIB Bank of the Keys, Waterfront Market, Ricky’s Blue Heaven and Harpoon Harry’s Restaurants as well as The Cultural Preservation Society, Publix, Albertsons, Antonia’s, Michael’s, Nicolas Seafood and Flaglers Restaurants. Teachers, relatives and friends as well as the public are welcome. The Kids of Summer Art show will run through the month of September at Fort East Martello Museum and Gardens and is open to the public.

If you are a member of the media and would like to receive more information and/or pictures, please contact: communications@kwahs.org