“Of all the art camps I’ve been to, this would have to be the best,” declared ten-year-old Jackson McDonald of the Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation summer camp.He has been attending KAF camps since he was four, and he enjoys the freedom to explore his own creativity within the framework of the assigned task.“They give you options of things to make,” he explained, citing the mask he was making as part of an Italian-themed week. “I like to design a lot of things and for the mask we had to design our own style and I like that a lot.”He is enrolled in the Explore the World camp, one of three being run by the Foundation this summer under the tutelage of trained art teachers and experienced artists.The Explore the World camp for seven to 12 year olds is designed to an open window on the cultures of South Africa, Russia and Italy (particularly Venice), with one country being explored each week.With the wealth of cultural inspiration Italy offers — Roman mosaics, Venetian glass and contemporary design — the weeklong course is intensive.JP Didyck was equally enthusiastic about the class, noting, “It’s really good. It’s fantastic. It teaches you a lot about the history and what they do in Italy.”He pointed out that “the Romans made really cool mosaics, so we’re making a mosaic with tiles to represent that”.However, it was the “really cool” Venetian mask, “with feathers and sparkles” that was the highlight of his week.Under the guidance of Bacardi Biennial 2012 artist Louisa Flannery, another group of youngsters were drawing on the current exhibition at the Bermuda National Gallery for inspiration.The Contemporary Art Camp for seven to 14-year-olds explores key concepts from a selection of pieces in the current Biennial and encourages campers to develop those concepts in their own way.When Young Observer visited the class, they were working on a team project, The Circle of Life, which was a response to an architectural feature.In the Biennial it is the cedar stairway of the City Hall; in the KAF studio it was a milk-carton play house. Each camper was building one component of the installation that would be assembled later.India Smith enjoyed going on field trips associated with this class, and felt that compared to other camps she’s attended “this is much more fun. You get to do more art, build stuff and paint”.Fellow camper Tiffany Bean also enjoyed “going on adventures to the Bermuda National Gallery” and using what she’s learnt to create her own work.The third camp, Summer Art Days morning camp for four- to six-year-olds, was using children’s literature as a springboard for their art work.Readings of David Weisner’s ‘Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Flotsam’ led to the creation of an accordion book, a fire-breathing dragon and nameplates crafted of sea glass and ceramic detritus collected from the beach.Other story books the children will become familiar with are Peter Brown’s ‘The Curious Garden’ and ‘The Man in the Moon’ by Ezra Jack Keats.Part of the artistic process is exhibiting work, and there will be an exhibition of the children’s work in September in the Edinburgh Gallery of the Bermuda Society of Art.“It’s not art that comes home and goes in a drawer,” explained Sharron Hawker, KAF administrator. “It’s actually exhibited and the children experience the pride of having their work seen by the public.”