Photo Courtesy of Dahl Arts Center’s website
The Dahl Arts Center offers students the chance to participate in art summer camps, gaining knowledge and experience while opening children’s minds to art.
Tally Monteau, education director of Dahl Arts Center, explains the three different ways someone can register for camps.
“Here on the education side of the Dahl Arts Center, we offer summer camps and part of the registration is to go online to our website, and go over to events and classes and scroll down to education, and it will pop up the summer camps where you can register. Or you can give us a call 605-394-4101 and option number 3. And then we’ll walk you through the process here at the office as well.”
There are several summer camps offered that branches into different forms and materials that are used.
“So, we offer a variety of summer camps on different mediums. We have mixed media. We have strictly a drawing summer camp. We have a painting summer camp. We also have one that goes from a 2D art piece into a three-dimensional sculpture. And then we have comics and anime,” Monteau says. “So, we try to cover all the mediums. We want to create a vast knowledge of artistic realms for them. We also have one that’s called the Harmony Exchange, which is going to be jewelry making where they can exchange with friends and family. And then also urban gallery art camp, where they go outside, and they explore the urban area and create art pieces in those urban settings and then ultimately ending up with a mural in Art Alley to kind of promote the local art scene there too.”
The art camps also reach out into the community to find their teachers for the summer.
“All the artist instructors that I have for summer camp are here locally,” Monteau says. “A few of them are art majors that graduated from Black Hills State University in the art education program, and then some of them are actually art teachers here in the area. I got one from Hill City, from Lead-Deadwood, and then a couple local art instructors here that are K-12 or middle school or high school too that will be teaching the summer camps.”
Monteau explains the reason for the summer camps.
“Well, I think especially with art, art helps the developing mind or the child or the young adolescent express themselves, and it also opens their perspective to a world view instead of this centralized linear view. And then art transcends all the barriers, whether they be race, age, socio-economic. You know, art kind of transcends all those barriers and helps people learn from other cultures and other perspectives through their art pieces, whether it’s the artists themselves or the audience that they want to target. When we have these summer art camps, we enrich that artistic view towards the kids and it kind of broadens their worldview on any matters or current events, social activism, things like that.”
She also discusses the price of camps.
“So, the camps are $180, and they’re ages eight years old to 12. But if a family cannot afford the full $180, we have a scholarship program. And then if you sign up more than one child, we have a sibling discount. We also have a payment plan. So, we try to work it with the family. To me, I don’t like limiting access to art through a monetary compensation. So, I’ve tried to create different avenues for where the family or the individuals can pay for their kids to at least enjoy one summer art camp.”
If you are searching for other summer opportunities for the arts, Monteau delves into the booklet created with other community organizations.
“So, you can either go on our website or we created these little booklets called the YEP booklet. It’s Youth Education Programing where we partnered with other organizations here in the community that also offers summer camps or performing arts just to get kids more involved in the art because they’re really limited, especially K-8. Rapid City Area School District doesn’t offer art until they’re in high school. Then, they can have art full time if they select that option when they’re in high school. The more opportunities that we provide art to kids or young adolescents, you are opening their minds to better experiences in the world.”
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