Activities

Campers will choose from a variety of artistic activities each day.

DASAC Regular Daily Schedule

9:00 – 9:40 am	Morning Meeting
9:40 – 11:40 am	Focus
11:40 am – 12:30 pm	Lunch
12:35 – 1:35 pm	Block 1
1:40 – 2:40 pm	Block 2
2:45 – 3:40 pm	Snack and Group Activity
3:45 – 4:45 pm	Block 3
4:50 – 5:00 pm	Clean up and Dismissal

• Focus is the name for the large, session-long projects taken on by campers. Often wildly multidisciplinary, campers choose from 10 unique and novel projects never offered before at camp. Campers are in focus most days of camp for two-hour meetings.

• Block Classes are the hour-long and regularly changing classes offered in our studios on a daily basis. Each day, campers arrive at camp to learn the day’s offerings and are free to sign up for any class they like from over a dozen DASAC studios.

From the 2023 Focus This Valley We Call Home. Campers made visual artworks in a variety of media while working on-site across a host of inspiring locations around the Pioneer Valley.

Campers can learn ...

Drawing: Development of foundational skills including composition, gesture and contour drawing, light & shadow. Work in charcoal, pencil, oil pastels and ink wash.

Painting: Introduction to elements of painting: color, light and composition. Work in acrylic and water color on paper and gessoed boards. Figurative, abstract, and landscape work.

Printmaking: Relief block carving and printing. Monoprinting. Mixed media and found object collage printing.

Ceramics: Instruction in throwing pots and glazing techniques. Work in hand-building and clay sculpture, pinch, coil and slab construction.

Photography: Instruction in black & white shooting, developing and printing of photographs. Introduction to formal elements of light, subject and composition. Also work with digital cameras and photo editing software.

Animation: Create analog and digital animation using a variety of materials. Learn animation software at beginner and more advanced levels.

Video Production: Projects including commercials, interviews, short films and music videos. Workshops in scripting and video technique.

Theater: Improvisation, acting exercises, theater games, monologues. Scene and script creation, performance of scenes and short plays for festival.

Dance: Traditional and contemporary dance and expressive movement. Work in choreographing original pieces. Performance of pieces for final festival.

Music: Work in voice and instrument instruction. Work with theater in musical productions. Ensembles, rock band, and chorus.

Creative Writing: Focus on campers finding own voice in written word. Workshops and critiques in poetry and story writing. Group writing projects, magazines, newspapers. Subject matter drawn from experience, observation, imagination and memory.

Woodworking: Instruction in use of tools. Individual projects in functional objects and aesthetic expression. Set design and construction.

Outdoor Education: Hiking, exploring and understanding the outdoors. Art activities along the Pocumtuck Ridge. Experiential workshops in environmental education.