The Woodlands/Spring Texas
June 11 - 15

 

WOW! Mark Kistler and his group of AMAZING ARTS EDUCATORS from around the country are joining creative talents to offer an AWESOME FULL-WEEK FULL-DAY FINE ARTS CAMP. Art Camp will be Monday through Friday from 9am-4pm for ages 6-16.

Summer Fine Arts Camp teachers include a former Disney Animator, a National Award Winning Music Educator / opera singer, a Dance Company Director, an Award Winning Visual Arts Teachers ...and of course "Mark Kistler" from Public Television's Emmy Award winning "Imagination Station"!

Mark Kistler's Full-Day Summer Fine Arts Camp will be Monday through Friday, 9am-4pm for ages 6-16. ALL CAMPERS will have the thrill of experiencing ALL classes including... Claymation/ Puppetry Stop Motion Animation, 'Operamania', Cartooning, Voice, Dance (jazz, modern, street hip-hop), Drawing in 3-D, and Xtreme ART Painting.

Introducing our 2012 Fine Arts Camp Teachers...

DOROTHY KITTAKA - Teacher of "Kamishibai" (Japanese paper drama) creator of "Operamania"
http://www.janm.org/janmkids/kamishibai.php

Dorothy returns this year with an ancient Japanese art form. In addition to "operamania" she will help everyone create "kamishibai" (paper drama) which uses pictures to tell a story.

If opera has you baffled, you'll gain a whole new understanding from Dorothy's own "Opermania." Strap on your Viking helmet as Dorothy dares to make opera fun! She also offers voice lessons so anyone can "sing with more sound."

Dorothy was a music educator in the public schools (K-12) in Indiana and Illinois for 35 years and was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of FAME in 1999. She is past- president and co-founder of FAME, Foundation for Art and Music in Education, that has touched the lives of nearly 4 million children since 1987. She has also sung in operas with the Indiana-Purdue Opera Workshop, given recitals in Illinois and Indiana and has been a soprano soloist with the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic.

Her honors include: Kennedy Center Arts Fellow; editor of Kids Kreate, Opera America, Wash. DC; IMEA, Outstanding Elementary Music Teacher; runner-up and finalist for the Indiana Teacher of the Year; Parents Magazine, As They Grow Award, presented at a White House Luncheon. She was selected to be in a book called, Teachers, A Tribute to the Enlightened, The Exceptional, The Extraordinary, published by Andrews McMeel, 2001. Married to late husband, Robert S. Kittaka, PhD. in 1962 and they have three married sons and are blessed with 10 grandchildren. Also known for her expert sushi rolling.

LISA MILLER ROOT - Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer
Lisa is the proud president and co-director of Premiere Dance Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her company instructs 400 students per week and is home to several competitive performing groups. Lisa studied the Cecchetti method of ballet and is a certified Cecchetti ballet instructor. She has been teaching many styles of dance for over 30 years including ballet, pointe, jazz, hip hop, tap, lyrical and contemporary. Her dances have won numerous awards including Best Choreography and National Grand Champion in Orlando FL. She is also the director of The Soul Brothers, a group of young men with Down Syndrome. Lisa enjoys spreading her love of dance to students of all ages and abilities. Lisa has been married for 26 years and is the mother of 4 daughters, 1 poodle, 2 guinea pigs and 4 hermit crabs. She is also an avid photographer and can't wait to bring her camera to Houston!

Lisa's dance classes at Mark Kistler's Fine Arts Summer Camp will offer campers a variety of styles based on their interests. They will be involved in choosing music and discussing the style of choreography from jazz to modern to hip-hop. Dances will be tailored to each class and their abilities so that everyone has FUN while learning something new! Her motto: Be Inspired! Be Amazing! You can DANCE!

CLARISSA ROOT - Dancer, Coach
Clarissa Root brings a new energy to jazz, hip hop, tap and ballet! She is a multi award winning dancer, including winning a National Jazz Championship in Orlando Florida! Clarissa is the head coach of a middle school dance team and teaches all ages and styles at Premiere Dance Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Clarissa is studying Spanish at Indiana University and she looks forward to sharing her knowledge and inspiration with the campers of Mark Kistler's fine arts camp!

TIM DECKER - Animator, Puppetmaster - Hockey Coach
Tim Decker's resume is a creative journey through worlds of wonder and adventure. He has worked as an animator/animation director for numerous well-known TV shows, Hollywood films and video games including:
- The Simpsons
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Steve Spielberg's Knowledge Adventure
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Disney Interactive

Now, he teaches the next generation of animators how to tell funny and fantastical stories with cartoons, claymation and puppets at two colleges in Milwaukee.

He fulfilled a lifetime professional goal when he created animation for some of Disney's most beloved characters in the games created for the company from 1996 - 2003. "It was amazing," said Tim, who began teaching in MATC's Animation program shortly after its launch in 2005.

His students now reap the benefits of that extensive professional experience. They must meet class project production schedules and deadlines, like the industry demands. Tim's teaching philosophy is simple. "My time with students is to open the door to imagination and creativity." His students have wowed You-Tube viewers with "Little Shop of Horrors"

TOMMY SIMMS - Animator, Puppeteer, Cartoonist

Tommy Simms has enjoyed drawing for as long as he can remember. Of course, he was inspired at an early age... growing up watching Mark Kistler's Imagination Station! He always remembers to follow Mark's 3-D's of Drawing - "Dream it! Draw it! Do it!"

Tommy is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts who specializes in stop-motion animation, puppetry, and cartoons. While at UWM, he studied the art of animation under Disney/Simpsons animator, Tim Decker.

Tommy is the creator of such animations as "FEED ME!" (an excerpt from "Little Shop of Horrors") and "The Legend of Leatherface Larry" (a claymation that follows the adventures of a sheriff in the Wild West). "The Legend of Leatherface Larry" won second place at UWM's 61st Student Film and Video Festival. Over the years, Tommy has also given lessons on how-to-draw cartoon characters for elementary schools, and has aided Tim Decker several times, teaching animation classes in the community.

To view some of Tommy Simms work, please click here and new window will open for you with Tommy videos.

Stephen Hurst - Actor/Director Improv and Drama!

Stephen has been with the A. D. Players since 2000. He holds a M.A. in Theatre for Young Audiences and Youth from Oklahoma City University. Stephen has worked for the Clovis Unified School District in Fresno, CA as an Assistant Director and Choreographer, and as a performer at Paramount's Great America. At the A. D. Players, Stephen has performed with the National Touring Unit, Children's Theater, and Mainstage productions. He has done extensive teaching, is the Director of the Theater Arts Academy, and has been involved as director and assistant director for several productions. A few of his A. D. Players credits include Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming; Charlotte's Web, Where the Red Fern Grows; Shadowlands; Joyful Noise; Mousetrap; Peter and the Wolf; and an award winning performance as "Gollum" in The Hobbit.

All fine arts campers will experience the thrill of acting. The whole world is a stage and we are going to prove it!

James Clarke is an artist and advocate who dreams at night in full color tempera paint!

James served as Director of Education for the City of Houston, President of the Texas Art Education Association and National Art Education Association. He is currently Executive Director of the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education (TCQAE). James is author, editor and designer of the Teaching All Children to be SmARTer Through the ARTS.

He also represents acclaimed sculptor, James Surls. With all his bureaucratic titles, James remains a hands-on, roll up your sleeves, get in there and create ARTIST. *James is least known for his role as "Houston Control" in the retro pop culture home video "The Draw Squad" – starring, you guessed it, Mark Kistler.

We have big plans for Mark's Summer Art Camp embarking on creative journeys in Xtreme painting, printmaking and a giant fanciful mural.

Mark Kistler - Author - TV Host - Teacher - Dad - Ring Leader
Over the past two decades, Mark Kistler has taught millions of children how to draw in 3-D at over 7000 school assembly workshops and summer camps around the world, including Australia, Germany, England, Scotland, Mexico and the United States.

His starring roles as Commander Mark and Captain Mark in the hit children's public television series The Secret City(1986), The Draw Squad(1989), and The New Secret City Adventures, have been enjoyed in six countries. His most recent self-produced public television series, Mark Kistler's Imagination Station(1996, 1999 and 2008), has aired on over 150 Public Television stations nationwide. This series won a regional Emmy Award in 2010.

Mark has written and illustrated many popular children's drawing books with Simon & Schuster Publishers, Learn to Draw with Commander Mark, Mark Kistler's Draw Squad, The Imagination Station, and Drawing in 3-D with Mark Kistler. With Scholastic Publishers, his four book children's series is titled Dare to Draw in 3-D! This past February, he released his first book oriented more for adults, "You Can Draw in 30 Days. "

Mark deeply believes that learning how to draw in 3-D builds a child's critical thinking skills while nourishing self-esteem. His positive messages on self-image, dream questing, environmental awareness and the power of reading have inspired millions of children to discover their awesome individual potential.

Born in Ohio, raised in San Diego, Kistler now lives outside Houston, Texas. He enjoys tennis, sailing, dense novels and not travelling. He wishes his family could have cats, he loves cats. Unfortunately, Mark's allergies to cats causes him to cry like a baby.

When:
Monday through Friday, June 11 - 15
Where:
Northwoods Catholic School, 5500 FM 2920 Spring, TX 77388
Directions:
Click for Google Maps directions to Northwoods Catholic School
Sponsored by:
Extraordinary Education

Here is a sneak peek at some of the drawing lessons that Mark will be teaching in your class!

Each "Drawing in 3-D" session each day is different. Each hour students explore new adventures. These themes include "The Revenge of Ninja Bananna!", "Xtreme Skateboarding Dinosaurs!", "Fluffy Bunny Rabbits Playing DS-Nintendo!", "Mermaids and Spitting Sharks!", "Horses, Kittens, Tigers", "MONSTER TWINKIES!", "Kittens, Bunnies and Robot Squirrels," "Alien Creatures That Crawl," "Koala Kingdom," "Tree Root City," "Underground Wormopolis," "Mermaids and Sharks," "Moon Base Alpha," "Marching Mummies," "Pyramids and Penguins of Ancient Egypt," "Kangaroos and Crocodiles," "Marshmallow Metropolis and the Adventures of Super Marshmallow," "Fantastically Fabulous Fish," "Jumbo Jellyfish's Expedition," "Outrageous Octopus and the Lost Treasure" "King Arthur's Camelot," "Space Hamsters," "Sharks that BURP!," "Dynamic Drooling Dinosaurs," "Radical Robots of Planet Pluto...(ooops, Dwarf rock in space Pluto)," "Furry Fat Cats," "Unicorns and Flying Trolls," "Multi-eyed Monsters," Bugs that RULE!," "Ants Wearing Pants," and many more!

On some days, Mark will feature the work of successful children's book authors and illustrators, exploring unique drawing in 3-D styles such as Dr. Seuss, Michele Gagne (Odd Numbers), Tedd Arnold (Parts), Chris VanAlsburg (The Z Was Zapped and Polar Express), Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), Gary Larson (Far Side), Suzy Spafford (Suzy's Zoo), Lynn Johnson (For Better of For Worse), and many more.

Times:
9:00am - 4:00pm (6 through 16 years old)

Why:
Because learning how to drawing 3-D builds important creative thinking skills, powerful problem solving skills, and a solid foundation for future art success (careers in children's book illustration, digital 3-D game design, digital 2-D and 3-D animation). Many of Mark's alumni students are successful digital game designers and animators with resume projects including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Bugs' Life, Toy Story, Marvel Comics, Leapfrog Toys, etc.

Mark visiting with friends at Dreamworks Studio in California

Cost For Full 5-day Art Camp: $299 first child, $249 additional siblings. That's a FULL-WEEK of FINE ARTS ADVENTURES with Mark Kistler and fine arts educators. IMAGINE THAT! Your children will have a full 35-hour week of expert training from some of America's most skilled Fine Arts Educators for around $8 an hour.

Home Schoolers, Foster-Adoption Families, and single parents are extended the reduced rate.

All art supplies needed for the class are included.

Register Now:
Click here to advance to our registration page.
Art Camp Sign Up Form.

Other Houston Texas Summer Art Camp Locations!
June 25-29: The Woodlands, Texas
Location: The Woodlands Preparatory School, 27440 Kuykendahl Road, Tomball, TX 77375-2602

July 2, 3, 5, 6: Spring, Texas
Location: Karate Masters Family Martial Arts Academy, 4712 #4 FM 2920, Spring TX 77388

August 20-24: Kingwood, Texas
Location: Kingwood Christian Church, 3910 West Lake Houston Pkwy, Kingwood Texas 77339

September 10 - 14: Spring, Texas (Homeschool Family Art Workshop Week)
Location: Karate Masters Academy, 4712 FMt 2920, Spring, TX 77379

Scholarships: A limited number of full-scholarships and partial scholarships are available for single parents, foster-adoption parents, and families needing special consideration. Please send an email to info@markkistler.com.

Mission: Over the past 20 years we have donated over 200 episodes of quality children's art education television programming to PBS stations around the country. To help raise the funds needed to create, produce, and distribute (via satellite) the television shows, we offer these Summer workshops and Mark Kistler elementary school assemblies. Thanks for supporting our mission to continue producing imagination enriching children's art education television programming. Children who learn to draw in 3-D, learn to think and live creatively. "Teaching the world how to draw in 3-D, one child at a time."

Questions:
Please email chris@markkistler.com or our toll free number 888-837-2933.

"My son is SOOOO excited about participating with this week-long Summer Horse Back Riding Camp! If you are looking for a FANTASTIC week of horses, outdoors, fun, friendships, and great memories...click here! AFTER you register for MY ART CAMP of course!" :)
The Woodlands Equestrian Club week-long Summer Camps runs June through August. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Click here to purchase Mark's New Book from Barnes & Noble

Here is a wonderful review by Deborah Adams...

Take out your number 2 pencil. You are about to be amazed.

Yes, I'm talking to you people who can't draw a recognizable stick figure. I used to be just like you - I wouldn't even doodle because I was so ashamed of my pathetic renderings. When I received Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days for review, I considered it a dare that I would certainly win. I distinctly recall saying, "We'll just see about that."

I was not impressed by the press release that claims Kistler's students have gone on to design the International Space Station and work on animated films such as Shrek and The Incredibles. Those people obviously had natural artistic talent. So what if they took a course from this author? I am drawing-impaired from the word 'go,' and there is no way I'll ever produce more than a lumpy, misshapen circle.

Kistler's friendly writing style lured me in, however. I reluctantly drew the Before pictures - a house, a plane, a bagel -then turned the page to see what Lesson 1 involved. It was so clearly beyond my ability that I almost stopped there, but pure stubbornness drove me to give it a go.

It wasn't easy. I couldn't figure out how to hold the pencil, even though I constantly have some sort of writing implement in my hand and have been capable of using one for writing words for many years now. The paper felt funny. I broke into a sweat. Despite all that, I managed to produce some very nice spheres in only a few minutes.

Kistler's lessons build upon each other, and explain in simple terms how to use size, placement, and overlapping to create realistic-looking objects; how to use foreshortening to create illusion; and how to use a simple horizontal line to give depth to a drawing. You can probably skip all that and just follow the simple step-by-step visual instructions, but honestly - the terms aren't that hard to understand.

Each of the 30 lessons has a bonus challenge, too, and I wound up doing them all with a fair amount of competence. Kistler is surely aware of just how embarrassing art lessons are for the majority of us, because he has wisely included work done by his students with each lesson, including some of their Before attempts, making me feel more comfortable about my own efforts.

By Day 5, I was looking forward to my daily lesson. By Day 7, I'd started sketching coffee cups and bowls, tables and desks, and just about anything else that caught my eye. What's more, I was able to look at those things and identify what I was seeing: foreshortened view, two point perspective, and textures.

Am I serious competition for Van Gogh? Nope, not yet. Can I draw one heck of a waving banner or delicate lily? You're darned right I can. And I'm convinced that You Can Draw in 30 Days, too.

© Deborah Adams, 2011, Curled Up with a Good Book

Follow these links for More Information!

Parents Q & A about the Summer Classes
Daily Class Curriculum
Summer Poster
Letter from a Parent
What Folks are Saying
Kids' Emails from Around the World
Back to Summer schedule




A Wonderful Letter from a Participating Parent at Past Art Camp




About Mark Kistler
News Interview with Mark Kistler
Summer School students art on Display