Summer camp helps students discover connections between art and technology
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some of the best programs for kids help them discover new experiences and tap into their hidden talents. A group of young people in a Triton College summer camp set out to find the connection between art and tech.
Creating is exactly what 12-year-old Miguel Alvarez came to the camp to do. It's a camp combining art and technology, and discovering how the two intersect; a collaboration between Triton College and the nonprofit The Nourishment Projects.
"Creation cannot happen without imagination," Miguel said. "Because, if you can't imagine something, how can you create it?"
The camp begins in the classroom, where students explore everything from robotics to welding to gadget design.
"They can understand behind the tech, not just pushing buttons. … How do you make the app? How do you make that thing work?" said Antigone Sharris, chair of the engineering and technology program at Triton College. "In all of these camps, they're observing how engineering, how manufacturing is in everyday life. This is our world, and we need more people in it, and it can't be replaced by AI [artificial intelligence]."
So they start them young. In one session, students learned about car paint.
"Electrostatic painting, powder coating, they got a chance to see how that was done, ho cars are basically painted," Sharris said.
Some of the best learning happens outside the classroom. So students go everywhere from museums to manufacturing plants to actually see how technology and art connect.
On a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago, students got to see behind the scenes of the conservation and science department.
"There's the technology in the art. Learn that. How do you create the paint? What machines do they use to validate that these paintings are authentic?" said Soma Roy, founder of The Nourishment Projects.
And they're learning how technology is used to maintain and preserve these historic works of art.
Miguel said it's "very valuable" to see it firsthand.
"It's something I've never seen before. It's crazy," he said. "They chose me out of all people? It's amazing."
Angel Agustin-Esquivias, 14, is just as excited, calling the camp a game-changer. How is he going into the school year different with what he's spent time doing this summer?
"I'm going into school a lot less nerve-wracked, especially with it being my first year of high school. I'm going in very confidently," he said.
That is why Roy made this camp happen.
"If you see things in a different way, you can really succeed," she said.
"You need a will and imagination," Miguel said.
The Nourishment Projects offers programs for learners of all ages all around the world.