Children's Museum Summer Campers to visit Saltworks Installation at Halsey Institute

May 23, 2012

CML and Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art partner together during 2012 Spoleto Festival USA

CHARLESTON, SC – May 23, 2012 – The 2012 Spoleto Festival USA kicks off this weekend and the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry is collaborating with the College of Charleston’s Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art to share a Spoleto experience with the Museum’s Summer Campers. Starting on May 30th, Museum campers will take field trips each week to the Halsey Institute to visit Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto. While there the children will learn about Japanese culture and create saltworks of their own.
 
We are so excited to learn about Japanese culture and watch Motoi in action! Not many children have the opportunity to watch an artist work. Most see the finished product and that is why this field trip is so important to us because we’re focusing on the process over the product. This is a fabulous experience that we are very proud to provide to our campers this year and hope to continue this and other partnerships in the future, said Robin Berlinsky, Director of Education at the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry and adjunct professor at the College of Charleston.
 
Motoi Yamamoto is a contemporary artist known for his work with salt, often in the form of temporary, intricate, large-scale installations. Salt is a very important part of Yamamoto’s homeland of Japan and he uses the salt as an art form in an effort to preserve memories of sister who died at the age of 24 from brain cancer. His installation will be on view from May 25 – July 7. CML Full Day Senior Campers attending any of the first five weeks of Summer Camp will visit the installation each Wednesday.
 
This is not the first time CML has partnered with the College of Charleston. For the past three years, young men and women who majored in Education at the College and received their Teaching Certification have joined CML Summer Camps as camp counselors where they gained experience creating their own curriculum using the arts to teach children about science, technology, engineering and math. Many of these camp counselors go on to teach their campers in the classroom. CML is proud of the partnership they have created with the College of Charleston and now with the Halsey Institute.
 
CML Summer Camp runs from May 29 – August 17 with a different theme each week. The first week of camp pertains directly to Spoleto with the theme Art Smart. Children will investigate various modern day artists as well as masters from the past. Each child will create a new and different piece of artwork based on dance, theatre, visual arts and music each day of this four-day camp. Children who attend any of the twelve weeks of summer camp will enjoy play time in the Museum, fun activities and crafts pertaining to their week’s theme, curriculum based educational activities that stimulate their senses during the summer, messy fun outside as well as air conditioned play inside and much more! For more information about CML Summer Camps visit the Museum’s website at www.explorecml.org.
 
The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization with a mission is to spark imagination, stimulate curiosity and encourage problem solving through the power of play in families from all backgrounds with young children. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 per person and free for children less than 12 months of age. For more information please visit our website, www.explorecml.org.