HEARTS TO ART, A UNIQUE PERFORMING ARTS CAMP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE DEATH OF A PARENT, RETURNS TO THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE FOR ITS 14TH SUMMER
Special Camp Guests This Year Include Theatre Troupe
Barrel of Monkeys and Teaching Artists from Young Chicago Authors
(Chicago, IL) – The Auditorium Theatre hosts Hearts to Art, a summer camp for young people who have experienced the death of a parent, for two sessions in 2018 (July 9-20 for campers ages 7-10 and July 23-August 3 for campers ages 11-14). At this award-winning summer camp, young people come together to heal, cope, and unite through the power of the performing arts. Hearts to Art has an annual theme each year, and for 2018, the theme is “home.” Campers will explore how the concept of home can mean something different to everyone and how the idea of home may be affected by change and loss.
“Hearts to Art is an incredible resource for young people who have experienced a tragic event,” says Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, Auditorium Theatre CEO. “Camp provides these young people with many tools for expressing themselves and creating new, lasting friendships. We have renewed our commitment to this program in many important ways so that campers can truly feel a sense of home at the Auditorium Theatre, and we look forward to having them join us this summer.”
This year, campers will work with the theatre troupe Barrel of Monkeys and teaching artists from the group Young Chicago Authors, as well as camp staff, to create music, theatre, art, dance, and poetry. Music workshops will focus on musical styles from around the globe, exploring the ways that culturally-specific music can convey a sense of home wherever one is in the world. Dance workshops will encourage campers to think of their own bodies as a home. Campers will also create dioramas that exemplify their own vision of home and what it means to them.
Each camp session includes a balloon launch, where campers release balloons containing notes honoring their loved ones into the sky by the iconic Buckingham Fountain; a talent show where campers show off their own unique skills, from creating science experiments to playing the piano; and a final performance showcase for family and friends, developed entirely by campers with the assistance of camp staff. At the showcase, campers reveal the pieces they have created based around the annual theme.
“We know that families, households, and communities are all impacted differently by loss,” says camp director Sarah Illiatovitch-Goldman. “A camper’s idea of home might be changed forever after the death of a parent, and we want to help our campers explore new ways that they can feel at home, even after such a drastic life event. We also want to strengthen the idea that Hearts to Art can be another place for our campers to feel at home.”
In addition to everyday camp activities centered around the performing arts, campers participate in small group sessions facilitated by professional healing counselors, giving them the opportunity to share their feelings with peers. Hearts to Art staff members are trained in trauma-informed practices for working with young people who have lost parents. Campers also hear from visiting speakers who similarly lost parents when they were young – past speakers include actor, playwright, and composer Hershey Felder and former Deputy Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs Janet Carl Smith. A licensed social worker and grief counselor is on site every day during each session to assist with campers’ needs.
Tuition for the Auditorium Theatre’s Hearts to Art camp is $50 per child for a two-week session. Scholarship opportunities are also available. For more information, visit HeartstoArt.org or call 312.341.2353. Applications (due by Monday, June 25) for Hearts to Art can be found here.
Major Sponsors: LINDA AND JAMES J. MITCHELL ENDOWMENT | EFROYMSON FAMILY FUND | ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL/NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS | LAURI S. BAUER FOUNDATION FOR SUDDEN LOSS | TAXMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION | AUDITORIUM THEATRE AUXILIARY BOARD | ANDREW AND ALICE FISCHER CHARITABLE TRUST | CHICAGO CABARET PROFESSIONALS | THE LILA H. BORGSTROM FOUNDATION | M&J KENNELLY FOUNDATION | IVANHOE THEATER FOUNDATION
About The Auditorium Theatre
The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, located at 50 E Congress Pkwy in Chicago, is an Illinois, not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of the National Historic Landmark.
The Auditorium Theatre 2017-18 Season is made possible in part with support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Palmer House Hilton. Michigan Avenue is the official magazine sponsor. For more information about programming, volunteer, and donor opportunities or theatre tours, call 312.341.2310 or visit AuditoriumTheatre.org. For a complete listing of events at the Auditorium Theatre, please click here.
Hearts to Art. | Auditorium Theatre, photo by James Steinkamp.
