The City of Selma Ceramic Art Program is hosting Art Camp 2018 on 9 Lauderdale Street, at Charlie “Tinman” Lucas Studio.

Two separate sessions will occur during the summer. Camp One will be June 11-15 and Camp Two will be July 9-13.

On Monday through Thursday the camps starts at  9 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. On Friday it is 9 a.m. until Noon.

The fee for the entire week is $125, and children must be 8-12 to participate.

Lunch and snacks will be provided each day during art camp.

Candi Duncan, director of the art camp, said she is thrilled to be having the art camp once again. She views the camp as beneficial for the community, as it helps children express themselves and be surrounded and create various forms of art. 

“I think it’s a wonderful thing for our community, we are so fortunate to have our camp here. It’s such a fun time,” Duncan said.

Last year, over 50 children participated in art camp.

Charlie Lucas, an Art Camp instructor and world-renowned artist, seeks to tap into the participating children’s imagination and assist them in creating objects from scratch.

Prior to 2018, art camp was stationed at the Dallas Academy Building, however due to a fire breaking out there in October, Lucas took it upon himself to temporarily relocate the Art Camp to his building.

“I don’t want this thing [Art Camp] to just fall to the wayside because we don’t have a building to put it in,” Lucas said. “So, I said I’ll donate my building until we get that one repaired. We care about these kids. We’re not here because we get a paycheck, we’re here because these young minds need to be trained in a way that, after our bodies have passed on, they can build something a bit more greater than what we have already did.”

Lucas feels self-expression is important. While attending the art camp, staff will encourage self-expression and find out who the children are through the art they create.

“We’re not here to say sit down, or be quiet, we are here to say ‘who are you?’,” Lucas said.

Lucas stresses the importance of art camp and guarantees that all participating children will be receiving the best education, respect and instructions on how to properly utilize their creativity.

“It’s so important that if one of my grandkids came here, I would want them to be treated with the respect that we have treated everyone with,” Lucas said. “I’d want them to be taught the way we teach everyone, and that way I’ll know what’s going on in this art camp. I have been here long enough to know that even if I am not here, I would know my kids will be getting the very best from this art camp. The teachers and instructors here have been really determined to do this job right, because they want these kids to walk out here and not break a window. We want them to build things, not break things.”

For more information call 334-412-8550.