Where Students in Grades 3-12 Experience "The Arts"





During the camp students selected art forms to study and create projects under
the instruction of North Dakota artists.  Guest art instructors for 2009 were:
Dee Abbate - Murals;  Anna Jacobson - Printmaking;  Guillermo Guardia, Ceramics;  
Adam Kemp - Miniature Golf Course Sculptures;  and
Deborah Carlson, Coiled Baskets and Silk Painting.

Performing art classes are under the direction of the Summer Arts Safari, a program
of Summer Arts Stages which is a nonprofit organization from East Grand Forks MN.  
In bringing the excitement of the arts to students, Safari believes involvement
includes not only performance, but also learning more about various aspects of the
art-making process.  The Safari mission fits in perfectly with the Nelson County Arts
Council’s youth camp where both visual and performing art sessions are available.  
Safari Troupe Members for 2009 were: Misti Koop, Amanda Zimmerman, Debra
Berger, Jill Useldinger, Tyler Mills and Alyce Stokke.

NEW!  Scroll Down For Informative News Article Regarding The Mural Project!

   
(Click on photos to enlarge)
Art Projects
Grades 3-6 performed "Disney's 101 Dalmations Kids"
Grades 7 - 12  performed the play "Honk"
2009
2009
Students Creating Art Projects
Murals   Scroll Down For Informative News Article Regarding These Murals!
Miniature Golf Course Sculptures
Students Murals on Display in Capital

Pekin - “Art Miles” North Dakota, The Peace Garden State, murals created by students in
grades 3 and 4 and grades 7 through 12 during the Stump Lake Fine Arts Youth Camp will
be on display at the North Dakota State Capital starting September 21 and at the North
Dakota Museum of Art October 26 – November 6.  They will then be shipped to California
to begin their trek around the globe.    

The “Art Miles” mural project is a monumental global project that the Nelson County Arts
Council was selected as participants through the efforts of Dee Abbate, an artist and art
instructor from Oakwood, Illinois.  Abbate was invited to teach during the Stump Lake Fine
Arts Youth camp this past August.  While researching for an unusual painting project for
the students to create, she saw a website about an international project that involved
children from around the world.  She phoned the international headquarters and requested
approval for students from North Dakota to participate in the project.  The students from
the Stump Lake Fine Arts Youth Camp are the only students involved from North Dakota.

The “Art Miles” Mural Project began in 1997 in an orphanage in Bosnia.  Children
orphaned by war were painting on a bullet ridden sheet.  “Art Miles” founder Joann Tawfilis
watched and thought, “If children suffering from such trauma and huge losses, could work
together, then certainly adults could learn from children’s murals.  Children can teach - art
will be their voice.”

The objective of the project is to create global harmony through art, one mural at a time,
one mile at a time.  There will be 5280 murals, each 5 feet by 12 feet, created by children
around the world.  These murals have been and will continue to be exhibited at global
events until August 2010 when they will arrive in Giza, Egypt for the final exhibit that will
encircle the Great Pyramid.

The Art Miles” project is officially recognized as a vital contribution of the arts in support of
the United Nations Educational Science and Cultural Organization’s Decade for the
Culture of Peace and Non Violence Among Children of the World, the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals, and the Convention for the Rights of Children.

The Nelson County Arts Council students attending the art camp created four murals.  
Each mural has a theme.  The 3rd and 4th grade students’ first mural is entitled “ Children
For Peace”, Youth Vision Mural, with these students’ comments: “May all the children of
the world live in peace.  May they all be safe.”  Their second mural is “Kindness to All”,
Monkey Mural for Peace, with a classic quote from a 3rd grade student stating, “I care for
everyone…even a monkey can love.”  The upper grade students created one mural
entitled “A Peace Garden”, Multicultural Mural, with these thoughts: May we help create
global harmony through art.  May our painting bring people together.”   Their second mural
is entitled “The Choice”, North Dakota Environmental Mural.  They ask, “Make the right
choice.  Help us keep our world safe today and in the future.”

The Stump Lake Fine Arts Youth Camp students involved in the project ask, “Let our
voices be heard – art has the power.  We seek to teach understanding instead of money,
power or war.  Real education teaches us to love one another and all life on earth.”

Students attending the Stump Lake Fine Arts Youth Camp that choose to take the class
instructed by Abbate and create the murals were: Sheyenne Norberg, Kaitlyn Myrum,
Michael Sandoval, Karlie Zacha, Chloe Sandford, Madison Lippert, Rachel Avdem, Hunter
Sand, Jake Anderson, Abbey Linstad, Brendon Schneibel, and Courtney Stein, all in the
3rd or 4th grades.  Students in grades 7 through 12 were: Sully Breckheimer, Karsi
Luehring, Skylar Hoyt, Taylor Kapelle, Brook Breckheimer, Naomi Bjorlie, Rachael Harlen,
Andi Gleason, Kahlen Kjorvik, Kendra Breckheimer, Amanda Germundson, Devan Stallard,
Emily Burkland, Brandon Breckheimer, Laura Grandstrand, Nita Harlen, Sage Nichols and
Justine Simonson
Kindness To All - Monkey Mural For Peace
"A Peace Garden"  Multicultural Mural
"The Choice"  North Dakota Environmental Mural
"Children For Peace"  Youth Vision Mural