Summer Arts Camp 2023
Welcome new and curious LWAC Camp Families!
My name is Jodi Miller, and I am this year’s LWAC Camp Director! When school is out for the summer, art is in at Lake Wales Art Center! Each week of summer camp will bring new art adventures. As experienced teaching artists, we are thrilled to join together and inspire creativity by teaching your campers a variety of art-making techniques and exploring the styles of visual and performing artists to help our campers draw inspiration for their own creative pieces. The week-long sessions allow for both multi-day and single-day projects, giving our campers the opportunity to work with a variety of materials, including watercolor and tempera paints, clay, oil pastels, digital arts, and more. At the end of the week, each child will go home with a portfolio filled with original artwork! Project types include pottery, drawing, painting, cartooning, weaving, mixed media, and more! But the fun will not stop there!
This summer we are collaborating with teachers and performers looking to shuffle their dancing feet, sing at the top of their lungs, and jump into theatrical roles to help the kids experience art both visually and performance-based. This year's camp theme is “A Day at the Museum”. Through this inspiration, we hope to create an environment where art comes to life and imagination will soar.
Here are the themes for this summer’s camps:
Week 1- Meeting Famous Artists- Introducing young artists to the men and women who laid the foundation for art throughout the centuries. Focus study on Mondrian, Monet, Michelangelo, Degas, Picasso, O’Keefe, and many more.
Week 2- Putting a new “Spin” on traditional Fairy Tales-Young artists will rework traditional fairy tale stories and add their creativity to recreate theatrical pieces, art, dance, and mixed media to share the stories from a new perspective.
Week 3: Art Around the World- An exploration of how art has developed around the world to help shape and influence culture all around the world. Take a trip with us as we “visit” different countries each day and see the world of art through their eyes.
Week 4: POP! Art-Your young artists will get their personal creativity flowing as we create “out of the box” art creations inspired by the worlds of surrealists, cubists, and abstract artists. The campers will dive into the world of POP art with Warhol, jive through the evolution of dance, and swing along to music from the 1920s- today! We cannot wait to see how the inspiration of the past will influence the art of the future!
We can’t wait to create our way through the summer LWAC Arts Camp with your families,
Jodi Miller, LWAC Camp Director
Schedule of events
Meet the Artist-Educators
Jodi Miller - Camp Director
Jodi’s love for the performing arts started at Mrs. Debbie’s Dance Studio at the age of 3 in a small town in Indiana. After moving to Florida, she continued studying Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern and Lyrical attending Indian River School for Visual and Performing Arts as well as cheering for Vero Beach All-Stars in Vero Beach, FL. After graduating Jodi went to Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL. on a dance scholarship. Jodi trained with Modern Dance Masters Demetrius and Kathleen Klein. While at university, she was able to have performance opportunities at the prestigious Kravis Center and study in workshops with Broadway choreographers for shows such as Chicago, Wicked, and Chorus Line as well as perform in Ballets such as The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and Coppelia.
In 2005, Jodi transferred to Warner University, graduating in 2008 with a BA in Biblical Studies and Christian Education. After intense studies in her undergrad, Jodi was accepted into an Interdisciplinary Arts Master’s Program at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida focusing on curriculum development within education infusing arts into core curriculum.
Since graduating, Jodi has shared her love for the arts and education by teaching in both middle and high school’s drama departments, coaching national champion dance and all-star cheerleading teams, as well as choreograph for local schools and community theater. Miller currently teaches the fourth grade at Winter Haven Christian School. She is eager to share her love and passion for the arts with our incredible instructors as together they inspire young artists to grow in creativity!
Jamiel T Burkhart
Jamiel, an alumni of The Fame School, is the Producing Artistic Director of MilkyWay Theatre Company and current founding Artistic Producer of Melting Pot Collective LLC, as well as being a versatile performer whose first home has always been the theater. He's a familiar face in the NYC theater and music scene as well as a regional favorite, with recent performance credits including HipHop Cinderella (U/S Prince, Runka/Dance Captain), Winnie the Pooh Christmas Tale (Tigger), A Symphony For Portland (Aaron), Comedy of Errors (Dromio), Rock of Ages (Ja’Keith Gill/Mayor), Cabaret (Herr Schultz), Into the Woods (Cinderella's Prince/the Wolf), Rent (Angel Dumonte Shunard), Pippin (Pippin/Lewis), and Jesus Christ Superstar (Caiaphas).
As a producer, he’s spearheaded a number of projects with MilkyWay Theatre, as well as got the company fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas in late 2022. In January of 2023, the "First Inaugural New Works Festival" performed a series of two new musicals and one new play at one night only, SOLD OUT, off-Broadway premieres. Coming up, Jamiel and the team have joined forces with J. P. Haynes and Tommie Wofford on MilkyWay’s next project at 54 Below, kicking off Juneteenth with a concert featuring performances from both Malcolm X: the Musical and Selma the Musical: the Untold Stories. A new web series is also in pre-production with a solid team of artists at the helm. At Melting Pot, he's used his expertise to manage the planning and execution of numerous film projects, as well as lead the fundraising team.
At camp this year, Jamiel will be teaching improv; learning how to create theater without a script, as well as Teatro Dimitri; focusing on tumbling and the circus arts! He’ll also be teaching acting for the stage.
Victoria Friel
Originally from the great state of Iowa, she took her first painting class at the age of 11 and hasn’t stopped creating art since. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in art and art history from University of South Florida where she also worked at the Contemporary Art Museum. She is a Florida Certified Art Teacher K-12 and has been teaching art for 8 years, currently teaching elementary art and private lessons in Lakeland. She loves all types of art but painting is her passion. Her art has been displayed locally through the Art Crawl organization.
During art camp students will be learning about clay, pottery and 3D sculpture. Students will practice clay techniques and skills, learn about different types of clay and the process of using clay.
Gary and Ann Gramlich
Gary and Ann have been involved in children’s ministry for over 45 years, traveling worldwide, sharing their unique blend of comedy, puppetry, music, and teaching in Conventions, Seminars, Churches, Universities, Crusades, VBS programs, Camps and Schools. They have written nine “How-To” creative arts books, kid’s church curriculum, and recorded two original soundtracks. Their passion is KIDS and training leadership teams who work with them using “out of the box” creative ministry ideas. They are requested speakers, consultants and mentors to churches and pastors of all denominations around the world. They cannot wait to use their many “characters” to help teach the arts to the kids of Polk County and surrounding areas this summer! It’s time to get creative!
Shawn Holiday
Shawn is a teacher, writer and performer. He has produced well over 500 hundred murder mysteries throughout Florida, performed in dozens of theatrical productions and written several plays, comedy shows and television productions. Since 1999, he has taught acting classes for youth and produced children's plays. He created Mr. Holiday's Camp of High Drama and Over Acting in 2005. Since 2009, Holiday has coordinated activities for youth in foster care, including acting, art, music, sports, camping, crafts, cooking, gardening and nature walks. He has been a resident of Fort Myers since 1975 and recently moved to the Sebring area after Hurricane Ian.
Julian Rosado
Julian was born in Philadelphia,PA and has been drawing and illustrating for as long as he can remember. As one of the Visual Art instructors from Summer Arts Camp this year, he will be teaching the students on the fundamentals of character design and comic panel art. Specific topics will include, but are not limited to: sketching shapes and body proportions, drawing faces, landscape/backgrounds for storytelling, shading/light sources, and composition for accurate panel artwork. He will bring an exciting experience to this year's Camp!
Kristen Amanda Smith
Kristen is a New York based artist with a BFA in Musical Theatre from Point Park University. She is absolutely thrilled to be joining the camp this summer and to inspire a passion for the arts in these young aspiring artists. Most recently, she was seen in multiple staged readings of new musicals in Milkyway Theatre Company’s New Works Festival in New York City at Theatre 71. She was also seen across the country this past holiday season in the national tour of A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage as Patty! Some of her other credits include Wendla Bergman in Spring Awakening(Pittsburgh Playhouse) , Georgia Hendricks in Curtains (Pittsburgh Playhouse), Starr in A Symphony for Portland (The Players Theatre). She is so excited to be a part of this cast!
David Williams
David was born in Tampa, FL and raised in Lake Wales. Throughout middle school, his world opened into the Arts by creating a series which in turn led him to pursue film in high school. He wanted to see the works he created to come off the notebook pages and onto the silver screen. After graduating high school he was in several plays at Lake Wales Little Theater before going to the University of South Florida. In his junior year of college, he created a photography business with his roommate that captures graduate portraits and photoshoots across the Tampa Bay Area. As we traverse through the camp, the first week will be about photography and capturing images through their eyes. The following weeks will be focused on honing the students’ talents in post-production. How to edit videos together, add music, and create fun trailers for everyone to enjoy. Excelsior!
Tommie Wofford
Tommie is a writer, composer, actor, and producer from the Central Florida area. He produced numerous concerts, readings, and full-length productions of his show, "Malcolm X The Musical", at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre Company, Dr. Phillips Center For the Performing Arts, and more. His work was originally showcased in New York City at Feinstein's 54 Below for the Black Writer's Showcase. He is a recipient of the University of the Arts full tuition presidential scholarship for a BFA in Playwriting, Directing, and Production. He has interviews and feature appearances with shows such as The Kelly Clarkson Show, The Drama Mamas Podcast, Stage Theatre Podcast, Arts Life, and more!