By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Black Swamp Arts Festival has a stellar reputation for great music, impressive visual arts and a festive atmosphere.
One of the true gems of the festival is the Kiwanis Youth Arts Village.
“It is promoted as youth arts, but all ages come out to awaken their creative sides and try their hands at being creative,” said Kelsey Mohrman, co-chair with Amber Speer of the festival’s youth arts area.
The hat-making station is by far the most popular, Speer said.
“Hats are always a staple. It’s a tradition. They come for the hats year after year after year,” she said. “One year we thought it would be so much fun to change the color, but that didn’t go over as well as we hoped.”
They went back to the brown paper bag color.
Also returning this year as another popular station is tie dye.The demand isn’t as great as it is for the hats, but it always has a crowd of kids and parents ready to try their hands at the fiber arts projects.
Because creativity is at the heart of the youth arts village, Speer and Mohrman are intent on offering play-based art. Much of the space, which is located at the north end of the festival near the Wood County District Public Library, will be set up with a variety of materials.
Leftover yarn from last year will be available to braid it, put it on a rod, add beads or anything a young mind can imagine.
“We come up with the materials; wood left over from last year’s construction station, pipe cleaners, flowers, sequins, paint, beads, pom poms, stickers, all sorts of doo-dads and lots of glue will be on hand to unleash their creativity,” Speer said.
“Honestly, we have ideas, but whatever they see and dream, it’s up to them,” Mohrman added.
This is the first year Speer and Mohrman have headed up the youth arts area. Speer, who is the elementary art teacher at Eastwood, assisted long-time chair Matt Reger for many years. She and Mohrman agreed to lead the effort this year to share their passion for the arts.
(Photo by Emily Wittig)
The Kiwanis Youth Arts Village is open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Children of all ages will be able to create something that they can cherish and take home with them.
“I like kids and love seeing how young, creative minds work. It’s such a feel-good thing,” Mohrman said.
Click for more information on the festival. Click here to volunteer to volunteer with Youth Arts or other areas of the festival
