HAF ART CAMP MAGAZINE SUMMER 25

ART CAMP ART CAMP ART CAMP ART CAMP

ANGELS AND STYLE

ANGELS AND STYLE ANGELS AND STYLE ANGELS AND STYLE

As well as exhibitions, there was also fun, trips to local parks, competitions, and creative digital innovation, whether via VR or AI, all of it shown in these very pages Art Camp continues because it evolves and engages a hundred young York artists. The honour is all ours Thank you to City of York Council's HAF team who deliver the HAF programme so well

Greg McGee

Greg McGee, Director

New Visuality https://newvisuality.wordpress.com

VITAMINS HAF AND ART

LIVE LIFE ON THE VEG: RIVERFORD ORGANICS

We continued our collaboration with Riverford Organics who helped us 'Live life on the Veg' for 24 sessions. Healthy fruit and carrot snacks included sliced fresh fruits - apples, bananas, and berries, whole carrots or carrot sticks, fruit and yogurt combinations, and dried fruits such as raisins and apricots We rustled up some fresh and dried fruit mixed with seeds, nuts.

There were crisps and flapjacks too, some biscuits, some juice, but the onus was on healthy eating and we could not have done it without Riverford Organics.

‘MUSIC

BE THE FOOD OF ART...’

It takes a lot of energy to remain creative in the summer when the instinct might be to drink fizzy pop whilst playing Fortnite. Our regular breaks ensured that our participants put the paint brushes down and picked up glasses or bottle of water, or fruit juice supplied by Bluebird Bakery The breaks were centred around having fun and choosing Spotify summer playlists. Our young artists began to associate hydration and eating fruit with having easy, relaxed times in a spacious state of the art hall with their own music providing the soundtrack If music be the Food of Art, play on.

REINVENT THE VITAMINS

Riverford Organics donated weekly Fruit Boxes with fresh, sustainable and locally sourced produce a highlight, especially when their representatives provided demonstrations on how to make simple food dishes and how their ingredients are just crying out for visual rehabilitation in terms of branding, a gauntlet happily accepted by our young artists. Summer fruits are healthy. We created characters and digital avatars to represent each type of fruit, with information gleaned from research providing part of the branding: the provenance, where the food comes from, how it tastes, its history, even its representation in the History of Art. If anyone is going to reinvent eating healthily, it's the young artists of Art Camp

E RECEIVES RIVERFORD ORGANICS’ DELIVERY

LOWER: URIEL PREPARES, ARTISTS EAT

YORKDRAWSWITHDENMARK

NEW ART FOR 2025 ART ADVOCACY

The previous page shows a small selection of the Manga Angels we created, helping ensure that HAF has an international component.

We also worked with the York RI Football Club and University of York’s Futsal groups, employing local team members, both boys and girls, from between the ages 11 - 16, to come and lead selected morning sessions with focus on eating well and keeping fit. The visual sketchbooks focused primarily on art research and presenting incrementally improving technical creative skills. There was also a focus on how food has traditionally been represented in art history, especially for its health values. We looked at colour schemes and researched the benefits of fresh food. We took pleasure in stealing the persuasive power of the visual tricks employed by Fast Food businesses, but this time using them to celebrate fresh food, especially with reference to the lunches provided by Bluebird Bakery and Riverford Organics

HAF OBJECTIVES HARNESSING VIA ART

Eat more healthily over the School Holidays - "We were laughing, the kids were coming back after every session with a different 'Did You Know ' fact about fruit and vegetables, as well as loads of Dad Joke puns! The teenage assistants helping everyone create an anime character based on healthy food was a genius idea " Marie and Marc, marcryman84@gmail com

Be more active during the School Holidays"At first we thought, 'they'll be sat there on their devices and will what to be home before lunch ' How wrong we were! Not only did they fill their sketchbooks they were coming home exhausted! Greg quite rightly organises a lot of breaks and organised games so there's plenty of running around." JT, julietrott83@gmail com

Be safe and not to be socially isolated"We're back for more There's so much traffic in York Both locations used by Art Camp are ideal No traffic, plenty of green space, everything has been professionally signed off It is so reassuring to know that Art Camp is a professional outfit who prioritise H&S " Michael, mikeprad9@gmail.com

Takepartinengagingandenriching activitieswhichsupportthe developmentofresilience, character,andwellbeingalongwith theirwidereducationalattainment"ThebestpartofArtCampforusis thatourchildrenarebeingco-taught byotherolderartassistants Ithink EmmaandJemimahavelearned morefromGreg'steamofyoung teachersthantheyhaveinthelast yearatschool.Ourlotarebeing encouragedtobecomeartassistants too,andtheyaretakingthis suggestionveryseriously." cliffmantle75@gmail.com

Bemoreengagedwithschoolandother localservices -"Assoonastheplatform wentliveandassoonaswereceivedthe voucherstherestjusttookcareofitself. Theteachersatschoolwerereallyhelpful, andwereceivedemailsandmessages, butIhavetosayitwasallveryuser friendly"Parent, natashayorkacomb@hotmail.co.uk

HAF OBJECTIVES

HITTING THE TARGETS

Haveagreaterknowledgeofhealthand nutrition-"Greg'steamcreatedawhole groupofcharacters.Theseavatarswere illustratedVitamins,illustratedtinyhelpers fromfood,vitaminsA,B,C,D,E,andK,that keepyourbodygrowing,strong,and healthy Theyboostyourimmunesystem tofightsickness,helpyouseeinthedark, keepbonesstrong Wetalkedaboutthis athomeandonthewaytoArtCamp.If there'sabetterwayoflearningabout vitaminsthancreatingavatarsabout themIhavenotyetseenit!"Parent, roywhinston75@gmail.com