Author: WWPR

With less than 50 days until the end of the school year, many parents are scrambling to plan summer activities. The options seem endless, and many camps in the city are in high demand--including Camp Sitar—a six-week visual performing arts day camp for students in grades K-8.

Extending Sitar Arts Center’s mission of engaging children and teens in high-quality visual, performing and digital arts, Camp Sitar provides students the opportunity to continue to explore those art forms during the summer.

“Students are getting some great experiences,” says Loretta Thompson, Senior Director of Operations at Sitar. “All of the students get at least four classes a day, so over the course of the summer students can get anywhere from 16 to 20 classes. We have every art form here in the summertime, and at some point, students would try, at least try, something they may not have done before.”

Students take classes such as dance, music, photography, acrylic painting, watercolor, as well as leadership and Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) classes. At the end of each session, campers take part in a showcase to display or perform what they learned to their fellow students, teachers, and family. Students in grades 4-12 can also register for the Summer Musical Theater Program where they get to participate in a Broadway-style musical under professional direction and design. Students in grades 6-8 can also participate in the Musical Theater Workshop after rehearsal, in classes such as scenic painting, theater prop making, costume making, sound, lighting and stage design. This year’s production is Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka.

The benefits of Camp Sitar can be seen well after camp is over. “I’ve had students that start off shy,” noted Thompson. “For example, they don’t know how to tap dance or play an instrument, but at the end of a two-week session can dance a whole choreographed piece or play the guitar. They are building their confidence by playing that guitar that they just learned to play two weeks ago in front of an audience.”

It is not only confidence the students are building, but also accountability. Sitar’s C.R.E.A.T.E. Values are a cornerstone to the mission of the camp. The values state that Sitar artists are:

Compassionate for each other and our community
Responsible for their actions and reactions
Eager to listen, learn and be active
Aspiring to become the best person and artist
Team players in the classroom and with their friends
Engaged in class and their art

With the values posted in every classroom, students are encouraged to embody them as much as possible. “The values are easily transferred back to how students should behave in school, how they should treat each other in the classroom,” says Thompson. “By keeping the values students can really participate and get everything they need from school. They can take them wherever they go.”

After a few sessions, parents even notice that their children are also a bit more independent. “I had a parent jokingly ask ‘What have you done with my little girl? She doesn’t need me anymore,’” recounted Thompson. The mother noticed that after a few sessions at the camp, her child felt comfortable doing things on her own where she usually would have asked for help. Thompson credits that to Camp Sitar’s structure–each student knows their schedule, where they need to be, and they transition to their classes on their own or as a group. This structure especially helps the younger kids gain a little more independence and prepares them for managing their class schedules when school starts in the Fall.

However, what is camp without some of the traditional summer activities, such as field trips, swimming, or just being outdoors? Camp Sitar has that covered.

“We have lots of fun too,” says Thompson. “We have planned activities every week including s’mores day, field day and water day. Moreover, we do field trips – one every session. Our trips are usually arts related, but sometimes we go to the zoo or the pool. Last year we went to the water park, and the kids had a blast.”

Throughout the day, students also have free time. This year Sitar has set up “Hang Outs” for the older students, grades 4-8, to choose how they want to use their free time. Hang Out spaces include a Jam Session, Reading Lounge, and Art Studio. Students can also opt to go outside with friends. The younger students, grades K-3, have a morning and afternoon recess that they spend outdoors playing. Sitar believes it is essential for students to experience these traditional summer activities as well.

Overall, Camp Sitar is a quality arts camp that strives to introduce children to new art forms and have them tap into their creative side. “Many students come and don’t even realize they like art. They don’t know what it is until they start doing it,” says Thompson.

Camp Sitar is an excellent opportunity to be able to open a child’s mind by having them experience art and then see how they choose to apply it in their lives. It truly is a special place, doing fantastic work.

Camp Sitar is broken into three, two-week sessions. Each session is based on a theme that is also connected to Sitar’s summer musical. Students in grades K-3 are in Kid Crafters and have five tracks with different art forms and classes that change each session. Young Expressionists, grades 4-8, choose individual classes for each session. 2019 Camp Sitar is completely full, but mark your calendars for early March when registration opens for 2020 Camp Sitar.

If you live in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, open your windows the evening of April 25. You may just be able to hear the Sitar Arts Center’s band – known as The Saints – as they play the organization’s signature fundraiser at the LINE DC Hotel.

The Saints, formed in 1999 within Sitar’s After school Arts Program, have been led these last two decades by Joe Link, who has seen the students thrive in their musicality, self-esteem, pride and their sense of belonging.

“Being a part of a group ensemble has bolstered their camaraderie, enabling them to collaborate, because they all are a family,” he says. “They love playing together and sharing their art with the community.”

But being part of the Saints comes with certain obligations:

• Each member must take a private lesson and music theory.
• They need to have played for at least a year prior to joining.
• They rehearse for two hours a week, with additional rehearsals as they prepare for special events and gigs.

Sitar Arts Center provides essential services that support working families by providing a safe environment that includes arts classes, after school programs, summer camps and internships.  Its arts education program not only introduces students to different art media, but also teaches essential skills that prepare them to be workforce-ready and to succeed in life.

Saints Band members can start as early as 2^nd grade. It currently comprises nine students, who play viola, violin, trumpet, piano, bass and drums. It has two vocalists. One member has been in the band for six years.

“[Being in the band] helps them in sports, it helps them in academics, being on time, being responsible,” says Lorraine Robinson, Sitar’s Senior Director of Programs. “At Sitar we measure toward 21st century life skill outcomes, which include accountability and initiative, collaboration, and critical and creative thinking. We see student growth in all of these areas.”

Beyond their time at Sitar, participation in the Saints Band also has impacted their futures. The Band has become a springboard for career goals, be they centered on music or other avenues. According to Link, “the foundation of music is a stabilizing and propelling platform for their lives. The students are very talented (some at still young ages) and they commit themselves to the band.”

Some Sitar alums have made music and music education their profession. Link says it’s heartening to see how they are teaching and inspiring the next generation.  The success stories are many:

• Emily Jordan teaches young music students in a public education setting in Cincinnati, Ohio. She will always return to be a part of the band when in town.
• Herbert Scott graduated with a degree in music and is now a force in the local professional DC Jazz community, recently featured at Blues Alley. He also started an influential nonprofit to support the jazz community and the music scene in the D.C. area.

So, what is in the Saints’ special sauce? Robinson says it’s Joe Link.

“Joe is a gift to the students,” she says. “He accepts the students as they are and meets them where they are, and then he develops them over time, both as musicians and in becoming the amazing people that they are.”

If you’re looking to catch a Saints show, the group performs regularly in the Sitar student showcase and the Sitar Café series, held at the organization’s Kalorama Road center. But they can also be found at PorchFest, fundraising special events, Adams Morgan Day, Community Organization holiday parties, Millennium Stage, and more.

For those lucky enough to score a ticket to the gala, themed Seasons of Sitar, at the LINE DC Hotel, you can expect to see a vibrant group of current music students and returning alumni do something they love, together.

“I am excited to see how the audience receives our students’ music and experience that vital exchange that happens between creative artists and their audience,” says Link. “It is a gift for others and it’s a joy and a gift to themselves as that music is now a part of their lives forever.”

Sitar is committed to being an artistic home for more than 900 students from all D.C. wards and neighborhoods.Visit here if you would like to donate to Sitar.