Bella Rose Barbosa, 7, dances on Friday, July 26, 2024, during a celebration showcasing the Spark! in the Park summer arts program at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter

ROCKFORD — Children showed off their dance moves, pictures and paintings on Friday in a celebration that marked the culmination of a two week arts camp that let youth learn with local professional artists.

Spark! in the Park Art Camp takes kids from first through fifth grade through a variety of artistic mediums from photography and videography to drawing, painting and dance. The Rockford Area Arts Council puts on the summer art program for free thanks to various forms of grant funding.

One of those funding sources was on display Friday, as the Rockford IceHogs Community Fund presented a $20,000 check to go toward the program. The Hogs plan to award $135,000 total toward various causes this year, according to Ryan Snider, the IceHogs president of business operations.

More news: Rockford cancer survivor nearly gave up singing. Now, she’s back in the swing of things

The two-week Spark! program runs weekday mornings for 50 kids on a first-registered, first-served basis. They work out of the Sea Scout Lodge on the Rock River and take advantage of the Sinnissippi Park rose garden and Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens as they explore the arts outdoors.

Spark! in the Park is one of three summer Spark! programs for various age levels. Other more intensive programs are for middle and high school students.

“They’re really unique because you’re working one-on-one with professional artists who do this for a living,” said Mary McNamara Bernsten, executive director of the Arts Council. “They may be ceramicists, they may be muralists, they may be poets, they may be musicians.”

Isabel, 7, shows off her art to her brother, Adrian, 9, father Jaime Tejeda and mother Lucia Ibarra on Friday, July 26, 2024, during Spark! in the Park at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Laura Gomel, an artist who facilitated the program and worked as an art instructor, said the camp can also help students ward off the summer slide, when students lose some of the lessons they got in school during summer break.

“Maybe they’re not sitting there studying math, but they actually are learning and they don’t realize it,” Gomel said. “They actually are studying math, they are studying science, they are studying phys-ed, all this stuff is happening, but the kids are kind of tricked into it because it’s way more fun.”

Dave Costello, marketing and community relations manager for the Hogs, said those long-term benefits are why the IceHogs wanted to support the program.

“Mary really sold us on the big picture impact that it has,” Costello said. “It has a long-term effect: It keeps them in school, keeps them more engaged in school, they do better, they graduate college at a higher rate, they’re less likely to drop out, more likely to vote. They become better students and better citizens that down the road has a long-term effect on our community.”

The Rockford IceHogs present a $20,000 check to the Rockford Area Arts Council on Friday, July 26, 2024, for the Spark! in the Park program at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Elise Jepson, 6, left, and Oriana Collins, 6, strike poses on Friday, July 26, 2024, before a dance routine for Spark! in the Park at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Ella Anderson, 6, hugs her sister, Poppy, 3, on Friday, July 26, 2024, at the start of the Spark! in the Park art show at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas