Explore your artistic side at camp

Summer vacation with its three long months of freedom is just weeks away. Ninety days of pure relaxation, right? Wrong. Two weeks into break, the boredom sets in — a condition your parents aim to cure by making you scrape the deck or baby-sit your younger siblings.

Find ways to keep yourself busy and learn something simultaneously by attending one of the many arts-related camps offered in the Inland Northwest. While this is only a partial listing of the many camps available, it gives you an idea of the kinds of camps out there. An abundance of choices makes it easy to find a camp that fits your personality.

• Are you melodramatic and do you love to make a scene? Then the Spokane Civic Theatre and the Christian Youth Theater are here for you.

The Spokane Civic Theatre is holding its eighth annual “Performing Arts Day Camps.” The theater offers two, two-week camps — one focused on musicals (June 21 to July 2), the other on drama (July 12 to July 23) — that are open to all teens. In both camps, the teens will take part in a stage performance.

Register by May 25, and the cost is $240. After that, it’s $270. Some financial aid is available. Go to www.spokanecivictheatre.com to register or call (509) 242-2726 for more information.

Another drama camp is the Christian Youth Theater’s Teen Camp, Aug. 9 to 13. This camp offers music, theater, voice and drama instruction. The camp takes place on the Gonzaga University campus. Camp goers will perform “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.”

The camp’s cost is $150. For more information, call 487-6540.

• Do you break out into song the moment you step into the shower? Well, Jazz Dialogue is perfect for you. This weeklong camp will be held at Eastern Washington University and is open to teens who want to learn jazz.

“The great thing about it is that you get to stay in the dorms and eat in the college’s cafeteria, the Baldies,” says Kristina Ploegar, the camp director.

“It is an intensive experience where you really learned a lot of jazz,” said Max O’Leary, now a freshman at EWU.

The camp costs $425 and takes place Aug. 1 to 7. For more information, call 359-7073.

• Are you classical and romantic? Then you should consider the Holy Names Chamber Music Week.

This camp, which is in its 12th year, is for advanced high school orchestra players. The cost is $130 for Holy Names students and $150 for nonstudents

“You didn’t just learn by solo work, but by listening to others,” said Anna Kimball, a sophomore home-schooler. “This is a great camp for the serious player.”

Holy Names also will be hosting its Fort Wright Piano Camp, which is open to grades 3 to 12.

Call the center at (509) 326-9516 for more information.

• Do you splash paint here and there? Then art camp is for you.

In a series of workshops at the Spokane Art School, 920 N. Howard, you can learn different painting techniques and enrich your artistic life.

Each two-week workshop costs $70. Call 328-0900 for more information.

• Does culture excite you? Then consider the workshops being offered by the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. Several morning workshops will be offered between June 29 and July 16. For more information, call (509) 363-5328.

• Do you crack up your friends? Well, get ready to learn more of your art at Comedysportz camp for high school students. Call (509) 363-1279 for more details.

• Are you a “Renaissance teen”? The Royal Fireworks Festival and Concert is holding its 7th annual celebration this summer, and the stage is set for the year 1749. You can play a part by becoming a character from the past, wearing an authentic costume and taking a person’s identity from that era. You must study up on the character and, during the festival, act as he or she would.

“You’d actually be that character,” said Beverly Biggs, the festival’s artistic director.

The price to participate is the cost of the costume. Call Anita Taylor at (509) 928-8584 for more information.

Festival coordinators also are looking for dramatic types who would like to take part in a mock duel. Call Gary Williams at (509) 235-8505 to set up your combat lessons.

Remember, the choice is yours. You could scrape paint — or have the time of your life.