Tinworks Art Camp

Tinworks Art Camps for Kids are designed to holistically tie into the artists, artworks and themes of the 2024 Tinworks Art exhibition. The goal is to provide an interactive and educational experience for campers that fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation for the interconnectedness of art, nature and sustainability.

Creative Engagement with the Exhibition

Each camp will tour the exhibition and make connections with the works that align with the exhibition-inspired themes of food and farming, land use and visual perspective.

Campers will dive deep into Tinworks’ interactive family guide, which includes age-appropriate descriptions of the works, art activities, scavenger hunts, at-home activities and kid-friendly definitions of words to ensure that children of all ages can actively engage with the artworks in the exhibition.

Mini versions of the artworks in the show will also be provided during each camp. This is a fun way to encourage campers to interact with the artworks by allowing them to touch and hold the miniatures and replicas as they move throughout the exhibition space.

The art projects campers complete each week will also be inspired by the themes of food and farming, land use and visual perspective, and will use the artworks in the exhibition as inspiration or a jumping-off point.

Inspired by Wheatfield—An Inspiration. The Seed is in the Ground by Agnes Denes

Drawing directly from Tinworks 2024 artist Agnes Denes’ artistic practice, projects such as the creation of time capsules and letters to communicate to future generations will be integrated into camp activities. Campers will explore the use of wheat as an art material and create salt dough clay, papier-mâché, seed art and wheat stalk sculptures.

Campers will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in creating small earthworks and land art, while exploring patterns in nature, plants and agricultural land.

Camp activities such as painting and printmaking, weaving and embroidering, and the creation of natural sculptures will support the art education component of Tinworks Art Camp for Kids. As campers create their individual art projects, they’ll learn about topics such as wheat and seeds, the multistep process of seed planting to food processing (including hand milling of wheat), famous depictions of wheat in art, water use and land conservation, as well as the anatomy of a sunflower, root structure and soil health.

Beyond Art Camp

In addition to the weeklong morning Tinworks Art Camps for Kids, Tinworks offers free daily drop-in activities for children and families every day that the exhibition is open. They also have Thursday morning art workshops geared toward preschoolers, science workshops, school field trips and tours, and kid and family cooking classes throughout the exhibition season.

Tinworks is pleased to partner with local educational nonprofit organizations for kids such as Montana Outdoor Science School, Montana Science Center and Gallatin Valley Farm to School to enhance and enrich interactions with the art and artists that are a part of the 2024 exhibition.

Parent groups, teachers and social clubs are welcome to schedule field trips and art activities with Tinworks Art for students or participants by contacting Angela Yonke at angela.yonke@tinworksart.org.