Museum to Offer Day Camp
Old Independence Regional Museum is excited to offer a fun and educational day camp exploring The Great Depression. Campers will have the opportunity to learn about what it was like for children in our 12-county region during this era in history.
Campers will learn about how children used everyday items to entertain themselves and make gifts. Musical instruments were one example of “make do” entertainment. Guitars were made out of cigar boxes. Basses were made out of washtubs and broom handles, and household spoons were matched together to keep rhythm. Campers will play with the museum’s collection of “make do” instruments and will make and learn to play a set of spoons of their own.
Campers will also learn about the WPA and some of its projects, such as the Federal Art Project. The goal of the Federal Art Project was to employ artists throughout the United States. These nearly 5,000 artists created over 200,000 works of art throughout the United States from 1935 to 1943. They created sculptures, murals, and paintings. Campers will learn about some of the murals that were created for post offices around the U.S., including several here in Arkansas. They will then create a mural of their own.
Campers will be able to sample a dessert that was created by accident in 1930 and is still a favorite today.
The camp is for rising 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders and will be held Monday, June 23, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. The cost for the camp is $10 per camper. The museum requires at least 10 children to sign up in order to hold the camp, and class size is limited to the first 30 registrants. Campers should bring a sack lunch. The deadline to register is Monday, June 16, 2014.
Old Independence serves a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820s Arkansas territory.
The museum is located at 380 South 9th street, between Boswell and Vine Streets in Batesville.
