Auburn University Bilingual Children's Visual Arts Workshops
Assistant Professors Chi Chi Lovett and Lourdes Betanzos initiated the first Auburn University Bilingual (English/Spanish) Children's Visual Arts Workshops (known in the community as simply "Art Camp") during June 2004. This camp is a spin-off of Auburn University 's Children's Visual Arts Camp which was begun in Biggin Hall by Prof. Lovett over 10 summers ago.
Photo Slide Show of 2004 Bilingual Art Camp
The workshops are open to children ages 4-11 from the Auburn/Opelika area, and are a pilot outreach program. Students enrolled in Prof. Lovett's Art 3010 course and Prof. Betanzos' FLSP 4030 serve as teachers, assistants, and interpreters during the visual arts workshops as a component of their respective course requirements.
The camp, sponsored by the Auburn Arts Association and held at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center , brings together university students and community youth from vastly diverse backgrounds. All involved are exposed to the work of artists from around the world, but especially those from Latin America and Spain . For Spanish-speaking children, lessons are interpreted into their native language. For children who speak little or no Spanish, lessons are conducted in English with supplementary lessons in Spanish that correspond to the content of the art lesson. One of the principle objectives of this program is make art and foreign languages more accessible to all community youth. Professors Lovett and Betanzos would like to express their appreciation for the continued help and support given by the Art Department, the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures, the Auburn Arts Association, the local artists and art educators, Auburn City Kids, and, last but not least, the Auburn/Opelika participants and their families.