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HYC art camp breeds creativity in the community

As the Heartland Youth Center's (HYC) summer program came to a close, it brought in a fresh wave of enthusiasm in the community...
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Dakota Derr (foreground) and Katie Wengryn (background) take part in the HYC art camp

As the Heartland Youth Center's (HYC) summer program came to a close, it brought in a fresh wave of enthusiasm in the community with its art camp, which ran Aug. 15 through 19 and supervised and steered by Treeva Toews, instructor from Sylvan Lake.

"The past week of teaching HYC Art Camp was a wonderful experience for me," said Toews. "I want to thank the Heartland Youth Center for the opportunity they gave me to be part of these children's lives."

Toews said that all the kids did a great job.

"They all made me so proud, they worked hard and overcame obstacles," added Toews. "I witnessed evident change in kids' attitudes and belief in themselves, it was a great success."

Among the many things that the participants were engaged in were weaving, painting, sculpting, t-shirt design and sketching.

"The kids loved all the activities," said Sara Wengryn, program director of Stettler Boys and Girls Club, who had organized the week. "They were happy to get their creative juices flowing."

There were two age groups of six to eight that worked in the morning, while the older age group of nine and above came in the afternoon.

"When we started the art camp three years ago, we felt that it was important to have the camp led by an artist who was experienced in her field," said Wengryn. "This allowed us to present a credible and authentic camp for youth who are genuinely interested in the arts rather than craft activities that they could do at home."

According to Wengryn, the youth were in their element throughout the week.

"They were so excited to come each day and were very proud of their creations when they went home," explained Wengryn.

Wengryn further added, "Our youth often look to programs such as the art camps because they do not have that outlet or place that they fit in yet."

Art camp, as well as many of the other programs provide a safe place for the youth to express themselves, find friends with similar interests and gain new skills to improve on their talents, said Wengryn.