fine Arts
inspiration & passion come to life
Med-o-lark’s fine arts program offers campers the chance to explore and express their creativity through a ton of immersive experiences! With studios dedicated to everything from pottery, painting, and photography to jewelry making, blacksmithing, and textile arts, there’s truly something for every young artist. Led by talented artisans, each activity is designed to inspire and challenge campers while teaching valuable skills.
At the heart of camp life, the iconic Art Barn and surrounding studios buzz with creative energy as campers explore traditional crafts alongside modern techniques. Whether crafting custom jewelry, weaving intricate fabrics, or creating colorful mosaics, campers are encouraged to express their individuality and bring home unique pieces they’ll treasure forever.
Check Out Some Of Our fine arts Activities:
Basketry
Beading
Blacksmithing
Candle Arts/Wax Sculpting
Ceramics
Drawing & Painting
Enameling
Mosaics/Collaging/Found Art
Film Photography
Silk Painting
Soap Making
Stained Glass
Stone Carving
Woodburning, Woodcarving, & Woodturning
Fabric & Textile Arts
Hat Making
Hot Glass/Flameworking/Lampworking
Leatherworking
Metal Smithing/Metal Jewelry
Basketry
The ancient art of basketry is alive and well in this popular studio, as campers learn the weaving techniques necessary to create beautiful custom baskets. The baskets are made from all-natural materials and can be woven with varying patterns and colorful fibers.
Beads
In this expansive studio, campers create beautiful jewelry and accessories. The studio is equipped with a wide array of materials, and the staff teaches many innovative techniques for working with beads. Campers create necklaces of every shape, coin purses, chandelier earrings, broaches, dream catchers, woven bracelets, Fimo beads, and much more.
Blacksmithing
Fire and Steel are forged into many different objects such as hooks, key chains, decorative items, cooking utensils, and sculptures. This is a very popular activity at camp.
Candle Art
Housing one of Med-o-lark’s most unique programs, the Wax House (built in 1795) is one of our most popular activities in camp and is always teeming with excitement. Campers create various candle types, including ribbon candles, sand candles, and sculpted candles. A wax artist helps campers manage the “dipping” process, which involves continuously coating a candle’s wick with layers of colorful wax.
Ceramics/Pottery
Our well-equipped ceramics studio provides campers unlimited creativity. Campers can create sculptures and busts, make tiles, pour molds, and learn how to use our many pottery wheels to take their projects to the next level. Our talented staff are always able to guide campers as they learn about clay, glazing, firing, and the production of finished pieces.
Drawing and Painting
A beautiful, spacious 200-year-old barn is centrally located among Med-o-lark’s many art studios. Here, staff teach campers techniques and styles in painting, drawing, sketching, cartooning, anime, graffiti, and other graphic arts. Campers choose from a wide variety of media with which to create. These include oil, pastel, watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal, and conté. The specially designed layout of workspaces allows for young artists to be inspired in a beautiful setting. An open studio elective is offered for campers who wish to use their imagination and work on their choice of projects.
Enameling (Champlevé, Cloisonné, & Copper)
Enameling is one of the most ancient and durable of all art forms. It is the art of fusing glass to metal at high temperatures. With a special kiln housed in the studio, campers use copper or silver bases to apply colored designs and produce pieces that highlight the luminosity, depth, and variety of color rare in such pieces of fine metal. Classes include silver Cloisonné, etching, and many other techniques. Even though this program is professionally run, all campers are successful and will bring home some wonderful items that they will be proud of.
Fabric and Textile Arts
Campers will explore the creative use of fabric and textiles through embroidery, fashion design, handloom, knitting, sewing, and tie-dye. They will also be able to try batik and shibori, the Indonesian and Japanese arts of hand-dyeing intricate designs into fabric. Campers are taught construction and alteration techniques with which to manufacture pillows, puppets, garments, accessories, and other projects. Campers interested in fabric and textile arts can bring home wearable memories they can use all year.
Hat Making
Fascinators, bonnets, and caps, oh my! We create beautiful pieces in our mad hatter studio! Decorate with your personality and wear your lid with pride!
Hot Glass
In this modern fully-equipped studio, an experienced glass worker instructs campers in the art of glass sculpting. Campers use torches to melt colored glass rods. Once melted, campers shape and form the liquefied glass into small sculptures, utensils, and decorative marbles. Med-o-lark’s trained staff works closely with the campers to ensure complete safety.
Leatherworking
A time-honored handcraft synonymous with camp, campers learn to cut, shape, stitch, adorn, stain, and enjoy their creations in leather. Moccasins, pouches, boots, handbags, and belts are just some of the many finished products that are manufactured in this studio. The raw material for these projects are durable, handsome, and easy to work with. Oil-based paint is used for precise decoration, and the hide is soft enough to be stitched for practical use.
Metal Smithing
Our metal jewelry studio focuses on pieces such as necklaces, belt buckles, medallions, rings, earrings, and chains. The work is done in copper and silver, and campers are encouraged to incorporate other materials into their projects, such as stone settings and enameled pendants.
Mosaics, Collage, & Found Art
Mosaics, Collage, & Found Art are exciting new activities that utilize creativity and found materials to create new works of art. Campers can use found materials to create collages, exercising spatial skills and creativity! Mosaics are small pieces of glass, stone, and other materials used to create images. You won’t believe what you can make from materials around camp!
FILM Photography
Featuring a darkroom complete with manual film cameras and six enlargers, Med-o-lark’s photography program offers instruction in traditional black-and-white photography and film developing. In the dark room, campers are taught all aspects of film development, including composition, lighting, and processing. In addition, the camp is home to an exciting digital photography program.
Silk Painting
A canvas for artwork that predates paper, humans have been painting on silk since ancient times. At Med-o-lark, in modern times, we paint on silk every day! We use water-based resistant paint to create beautiful designs and colorful patterns to make wearable art.
Soapmaking
Handmade soaps are fun to make, and each one is a unique piece of art. Campers mix their color palette and design their own soap using techniques like layering and curling. Campers use the “melt and pour” method and add fantastic flourishes like botanicals, essential oils, and fragrances. Rose petals, lavender, poppy seeds, peppermint, and coffee look lovely and help make skin healthy. Campers can also make lip balm from beeswax. Soapmaking excites all the senses in its practice, and it feels great to make something beautiful that you can use. Great for all ages, campers learn to wrap and package soaps for gifts and for personal use.
Stained Glass
Campers choose from an extensive variety of colored and textured glass to make stunning works that reflect light, like only glass can. By using patterns or creating their own designs, campers have the opportunity to create multiple pieces, incorporating their own ideas into their work. Camper projects include picture frames, candle holders, landscape wall hangings, and sun catchers.
Stone Carving
Using rough-hewn blocks of soapstone in this studio, campers shape and carve beautiful creations that can last forever. Campers create small sculptures, pendants, vases, candlestick holders, clock inlays, sundials, and more.
Woodworking
Woodburning: A unique variation of Woodcarving, campers use pencil-like precision instruments to literally burn sketch lines, incisions, and final strokes into different species of wood to create everlasting works of art. The tools for this activity are electric implements that provide just enough heat to burn detailed pictures and drawings into a variety of wooden items.
Woodcarving: A time-tested camp favorite, campers use X-acto knives and carving tools to mold and decorate wood of all species, shapes, and sizes. Oils, pastels, and water-based paint for coloring and shading are used to enhance campers’ creations. Many campers even design frames to complete their work. Our woodcarving studio provides proper teaching methods and ample supervision.
Woodturning: Shop-Smith lathes are employed to teach children how to turn blocks of wood into decorative and useful creations. Campers gain valuable experience working with these multi-faceted tools. Chisels are used to shape and grind projects like bowls, spindles, pens, ice-cream scoops, and much more.