Our recent sunny weather brought on the smell of barbecues throughout Portland neighborhoods. So…around the picnic table we found ourselves looking up the etymology of “BBQ” – and guess what? Its roots are Haitian! The Taino people, the original residents of the Island of Hispaniola, cooked fish and […]
Grace Art Camp just won the 2019 Best Summer Camp for Arts & Craft in the recent NW Kids Magazine competition, sponsored by Trackers Earth. Readers voted for their favorite camp in each category. Thank you for all of your support! This wonderful recognition comes at a time we […]
This month While Rome Burns welcomes the fabulous Swamp Thang to the Mississippi Pizza Pub stage along with opening act Root Cellar Duo. we’re raising funds to help support Grace Institute’s scholarship program for Grace Art Camp campers. Sunday May 26, 5 – 7 PM Mississippi Pizza Pub & Atlantis Lounge 3552 N. Mississippi […]
Grace Art Camp Studio Artists for Krik? Krak! Stories from Haiti recently met to exchange ideas and plans about the stories, history, and arts and crafts of Haiti and found a feast awaiting them. What better way to start the process than with a home-cooked, made-from-scratch, Haitian meal prepared […]
Whoo Hoo! Thank you, Loyal Campers! The official voting period is from April 16-30 – so go VOTE here now! Winners and Top three in each category will be announced in early May. The Camp with the most votes will be named best overall camp! And, every time […]
Spaces are still available for online registration due to our new efficient registration system. Don’t be afraid to sign up for the waitlist — the majority of waitlisted campers are offered spaces! Full and partial scholarships are available. To register go here! For more information go to this […]
BLOSSOM WITH CREATIVITY, COMMUNITY, & JOY Only Five Spaces still available! Celebrate the renewal of the earth and our own resiliency in spring with story telling, music and art. Art Studios use up-cycled/reclaimed materials for projects in fibre arts, ceramics/glass, and other splendid assortments of visual art media […]
The Art of Recycling Festival is coming up so we thought it would be fun to share a recycled project. Annie has created a steamer trunk for her cat to put his toys. Thankyou to Podington Bear for …
Sunday, November 18, 2018 from 12:00 to 3: 00 pm PLEASE JOIN Grace Institute and Grace Art Camp for a National Recycling Day celebration featuring a puppet show, music played on instruments made from recycled objects, and up-cycled art projects, all led by multi-talented Grace Institute artists! Healthy […]
Art and the act of creative expression are opportunities for people to experience agency, community, and change. Be a part of this change by joining the Grace Institute Board of Directors. If you are a Grace Art Camp parent, grandparent, friend, volunteer, or other enthusiast who does cartwheels […]
Designed for children in grades 1 – 7, Truth Love Beauty The Wonder of Peace is a three-day camp emphasizes peace as a personal practice and a creative process. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, December 17, 18 and 19, 2018 9:00 am to 2:30 pm Cost per student: $210 […]
Week 7’s story, Zarina’s Orchard, from Tajikisatan, sums up into “Sometimes life is Easy. Sometimes life is Hard. But today it was Delicious.” Last week may have been the end of this summer’s Colors of the Silk Road, but it certainly is the just the beginning of sharing […]
Monday, camp whirled into a surprise magic carpet ride, sweeping us to Bukhara alongside storytellers, Robert and Kelly. Accompanied by a trusty guide and Bactrian camel, Pistachio, we traveled ancient trade routes making up the heart of The Silk Road. For thousands of years these trade routes aided […]
“Somewhere out beyond right and wrong there is a field. I will meet you there.” – Rumi As promised, here is the wrap up for week 6 – thank you, to each of you, for being a part of last week. You each make a unique difference when […]
No matter how salom is spelled or pronounced or the particular language or variation it is of, we understand this greeting as a universal acknowledgement of one another. Literally translated to English, we are greeting each other with “peace.” Today’s camp whirled into a surprise magic carpet ride, […]
“Somewhere out beyond right and wrong there is a field. I will meet you there.” – Rumi Salom and thank you for being a part of week 5’s excitement for being together at camp! This week’s story, The Amir who Became a Weaver, retold by local storyteller Alton […]
Salom! Today was Camelhumpday at camp. We learned about the Bactrian camel with TWO humps as well as many other interesting animals who live throughout the diverse ecosystems of Central Asia. . . ask your camper for details! Yesterday, in the spirit of global exchange along the Silk […]
Salom! is one way to say “hi” in Uzbekistan as well as well as many other places in the world!! No matter how this word is spelled or pronounced or the particular language a variation of it is from, we understand this greeting as a universal acknowledgement of […]
“Somewhere out beyond right and wrong there is a field. I will meet you there.” – Rumi Last week was lively and elated, receptive and respectful, and brimming with resourceful choices – looks like being “responsible for what we do” can be liberating and bring us all closer […]
The journey begins . . . today art campers have learned that “salom” is one way to say “hi” in Uzbekistan as well as well as many other places in the world!! No matter how this word is spelled or pronounced or the particular language a variation of […]
The Carpet of Dreams This week’s story was retold by local storyteller and puppet extraordinaire artist, Kelly Campbell. This week is was lively and elated, receptive and respectful, full of resourceful choices. Looks like being responsible for what we do can be liberating and bring us all closer […]
Art Camp started in a whirl with a surprise magic carpet ride that landed us in Bukhara. Accompanied by the trusty Bactrian camel, Pistachio, we explored stories, melodies, and art found in the multi-layers of history along the ancient trade routes known as The Silk Road. We learned […]
Aldar-Kose and Shigai-Bai The week’s story, exquisitely retold by local storyteller Will Hornyak – who left us full hearted and satisfied and generous – can be read or downloaded with the above link. As Week 2 comes to an end and we are indeed “champs” as the song […]
Over the past three days art campers have learned that “salom” is one way to say “hi” (and goodbye) throughout Central Asia as well as many other places in the world!! No matter how this word is spelled or pronounced, we understand this greeting as a universal acknowledgement […]
It was a great first week of “being happy, laughing, and being grateful for the life” at camp, reconnecting and making new connections with one another! Here are the animations and a few peeks at Friday’s activities. . .as well as a link to our Instagram! […]
Salom! This week campers have learned that “salom” is one way to say “hi” along the many trades routes through out Central Asia. No matter how this word is spelled or the particular language the spelling and sounds are from, everyone understands its meaning – connection! Art Camp […]
This past Spring Break Camp we embraced The Empty Pot (a Chinese fairy tale), the Spring Equinox, and all its joy from lengthening days of light to seeds sprouting into all kinds of lovely and joyous communities. Animating stories, songs, movement, mindfulness practice, and wishing strips for The Coat of […]
This year’s Winter Peace Camp asked the question “What is compassion and how do we do it?” Peace-campers explored compassion through all sorts of “creating” this week making challah (recipe: https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/best-challah-egg-bread/), listening and telling stories, exploring the beauty of geometry, color, and light in rose windows, water coloring […]
“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” – Thich Nhat Hanh SHARING COMPASSION WITH COMMUNITY Universal stories of compassion in action lead the way into welcoming, discovering, and celebrating the many ways we can cultivate peace and loving kindness, individually and together. Alongside […]
. . . a unique animated look at Issun Boshi, among other tidbits of the week . And Thank you everyone for another fabulous summer of Art Camp. See you next year when you come again!
terday returning campers recalled, and shared with new campers, the many things we do at Art Camp together each year — make art, listen to stories, dance together, be “dramatic”, sing — lots of singing, and just being together while doing all these things. We sang […]
Thursday and Friday were chock full of Star Festival activity — miniature shoji screens, glass furin, koi ponds, fishing poles, sumi painted scrolls, hanko (stamps with designed and personalized signature), clay olympics, accessories inspired by Japanese streetwear known as “fruits”, polka dotted collages and giant block printing of […]
Sashiko literally means “little stabs” and is a kind of embroidery campers have been learning in the fibre arts studio. Taiko is the word for “drum” and Portland Taiko graced Art Camp today with many kids of Japanese style drums in the Music & Dance Studio […]
We started the day with a singing medley of our top morning songs followed by the beginning of Tanabata, the ancient legend behind the Star Festival celebrated in Sendai (in August according to the lunar calendar). Storyteller Anne introduced us to a set of twins and two stars […]
Today, old and new friends came together to sing the cherished Grace Art Camp tune and share the Four R’s of Community. An old Japanese favorite makura (pillow), Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, set the tone for the week, about a mean old grumpy man who ends up […]
A camper quote from the week and a few parting images: “On Tuesday morning I asked my 8 year old grandson if any of his friends from school were at Grace Art Camp. He said ‘No, but that’s okay. Grace Art Camp is one of those places where […]
Veiled in a smoky layer of heat, and amidst a unique plethora of studio choices, origami artist Yuki Martin taught campers how to make useful utilitarian objects from paper and this week’s storyteller, Alton Chung, made a guest appearance in the Theatre Studio to play out slow-motion theatre […]
Art Camp photographer Sonja Bales’s quote for the day: I’ve noticed kids laugh less as it gets hotter. And yet . .. . her pictures speak for themseleves. Today we heated up Art Camp by just being art camp cool with clay finger puppets, animated floating moon worlds, […]
Today, we heard the first days of four parts of Momotaro, where otasa (father) and okasa (mother) find an oh so oshi (delicious) peach floating along the river and take it home to eat only to find they now have a small child in their lives […]
Old and new friends came together today to sing the cherished Grace Art Camp tune and share the Four R’s of Community. We were all entertained by Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, a favorite ancient rakugo, or “joke tale”, about a mean old grumpy man who ends […]
Week 4’s Animation Studio video made by art campers! And a few vignettes of Friday . . .
Over the past four days, art campers have folded themselves into an incredible origami community that we will share and honor tomorrow. The gate will open tomorrow at 2:45pm for families to join this week’s celebration at 3pm. Unfolding over the last two days were a guest appearance […]
Wednesday brought Portland Taiko to camp for the whole day demonstrating that perseverance, respect, and collaboration are essential to creating a cohesive community beautiful sounds, and learning new skills of all kinds!
Konichiwa GAC Kazoku! (Good Afternoon GAC Families) Yesterday old and new friends came together to sing the cherished Grace Art Camp tune and share the Four R’s of Community. We were all entertained by a very old makura or “pillow story” to set the stage for the week. […]
Thursday and Friday brimmed with activity culminating in the weekly Friday matsuri (festival) celebrating our week of community that blossomed out of folding, printing, sewing, threading, cutting, painting, dancing, moving, beating, gluing, tying, wrapping, unwrapping, shaping, pulling, dipping, smoothing, clipping, carving, firing, speaking, singing, and smiling. Amazing what […]
Today Guest Artist Yuki Martin lead the Origami Studio with folded paper accessories fit for royalty. Everyone else offered a variety of projects involving fish, puppets, or fans, and then some! Tomorrow, Friday, we are all looking forward to finding out just what Kaguya-hime, born from the hollow […]
Daily blog posts include photos from the day before and details about today. Today, the middle of week 3 at Grace Art Camp, we were serenaded by Portland Taiko who graced the Music & Dance Studio all day and performed after recess demonstrating that perseverance and collaboration […]
