Students of the Eaglearts Academy shared their artistic accomplishments with friends and family Saturday afternoon (July 25), as a wrap-up to the two-week camping experience at Quest University.
The Eaglearts Academy summer arts camp is a not for profit society dedicated to using the arts for personnel and social transformation. In its seventh year of operation it was the first year that the camp was housed at Quest.
"We were looking for a larger facility and Quest opened its doors, so we were so pleased to take it," said camp director Laura Lee. "The campus is such an inspiring spot, in just two weeks the kids produced a lot of fabulous work there."
The program attracted more than 130 kids, ages 11 to 17, to the campus where they got to specialize in one of the six disciplines: dance, drama, music, visual art, video production or multi-track.
The academy attracted young artists came from as far and wide as France, Yellowknife and Mexico along with a few locally based aspiring artists including Squamish' own Blair Mcadoo. Olivia Pace, an aspiring dancer from Seattle, Washington, has been attending Eaglearts Academy for five years.
"I love it because the teachers are amazing and it is so easy to talk to everyone because you are around people that like what you like," said Pace.
The kids began each day with character development and a project designed to explore oneself in a creative and positive way.
"Our motto is that the greatest work of art you can create is the life we live," said Lee.
With the mornings dedicated to one track of study, the afternoons to electives and the evenings to the final project, the kids ran a tight schedule.
"It's not all study though, Squamish was an ideal location because we were able to take the kids to Les Misérables and Granville Island in Vancouver, and we also had a chance to explore Whistler," said Lee.
Lee said she hopes to return to Quest University next year with the Eaglearts program. You can find out more about the program at eaglearts.ca.
