By Juliet Brewster

For kids in Edmonds public schools, summer is only one, long, torturous month away. For their parents, maybe this month will feel more like a weekend, conspicuously booked with teacher conferences, recitals and an ambiguous science or history convention. Never fear! It’s not too late to sign up for one (or more) of the wonderful art camps offered in Edmonds this year.

The Edmonds & Mountlake Terrace “Craze” recreation guide lists summer camps right on the first page, with one- and two-week long courses in acting, drawing, gymnastics, clay, and photography for all ages. “Craze” also lists three Lego camps for young engineers, including a new “Bash ‘Em Bots” camp for kids ages 7-10 who show promise in the field of destruction.

Pick up the guide at the Frances Anderson Center (where most camps are held) or download the .pdf here

ArtSpot will host their EvolVing ART camp Mondays through Thursdays every week this summer (July 24-Aug. 30) with a morning and afternoon session, and the option to stay all day. Every day brings new creative experiences, with studies in drawing, painting, clay, jewelry, and more. Sessions are $30 each, and you can sign up as late as two days in advance. Drop-ins are also welcome, for a small fee. For more info, and listings of other summer art classes for kids, check the ART Spot website.

Glazed and Amazed offers three weeks of camp for kids ages 8 and older. Dates are July 8-12, 22-26, and Aug. 5-9. Call the shop or stop in to sign up at 514 Main St. 425-673-5474.

Edmonds School District’s Summer Music School is open to music students entering the  grade with at least one year of instrumental experience, even those outside of the Edmonds district. Camp is held at Brier Terrace Middle School, and runs June 24-July 12, with a culminating concert at Edmonds Center for the Arts. Students will have the opportunity to march in the 4th of July parade, and will visit the Experience Music Project on a field trip. For a daily schedule and list of electives, click here <https://www.edmonds.wednet.edu/page/606>.

Book-It Repertory Theater is holding a summer camp I wish I could go to (recommended for 3rd graders…darn) at the Edmonds Center for the Arts. The week of July 8-12 will be spent bringing stories to life. Kids will play the part of both author and character, collaborating to re-write their favorite stories as scripts, and then sharing those scripts in a final performance.

The Driftwood Players’ Summer Teen Ensemble will perform Disney’s “Camp Rock: The Musical” after a four-week intensive theater camp (June 28–July 29) which includes vocal, acting, and dance instruction, leadership games, and makeup technique and a private tour of the Paramount Theater in addition to rehearsal. Camp is first-come, first-served for students ages 11-18. Last I checked, there were only five spots left, so sign up now!

And for our neighbors to the north: Art Workshop by the ferry dock in Mukilteo lists camps all summer long in filmmaking, fashion design, marine science and art, sculpting (including glass-blowing!), cartoon/animation, painting, photography, and acting on film. Check out the website for more info.

A few other events and announcements this week:

“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” runs this weekend at the Black Box Theater at Edmonds Community College. Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Pop Culture Historian Jennifer K. Stuller will discuss the significance of the heroine in popular culture in her lecture, “Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology,” Tuesday, May 21 at the Black Box Theater. The lecture is free and open to the public. It is part of the Hazel Miller Conversations in the Humanities series, sponsored by the Hazel Miller Foundation.

Manya Vee will speak at this month’s Friends of the Edmonds Library meeting, Thursday, May 23 at 1 p.m. in the Library’s upstairs Plaza Room at 620 Main St. Manya is a co-owner of MaJe Gallery, and co-founder of the Edmonds Art Walk. Manya will speak about why the Art Walk is so important to Edmonds artists, merchants, and community members.

Last but not least…

Congratulations to the five recipients of The Driftwood Players scholarships! Bethany Arneson and Zoe Jovanovich are soon-to-be graduates of Kamiak High School planning to study theater arts in college. Jennifer Lindell, Marissa Wyll and Summer Hofford, the other three recipients of the $500 scholarship, are already deep in their dramatic studies.

Artfully Edmonds columnist Juliet Brewster, an Edmonds native and Edmonds-Woodway High School graduate, has a degree in literature from Bennington College. To have your arts happening listed, email her at brewster.juliet@gmail.com.