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Camp Location
St Paul’s Gathering Place in Warkworth and Kennedy Park/Rotary Hall in Campbellford
artworthcamp@gmail.com
Instructors
Our 2025 Instructors
Sarah Brown
Camp Manager and Steering Group Facilitator
Sarah is the Artworth camp manager and the face behind the brand Homesouling. Currently she works in the public school system as an educational assistant. Sarah spent 7 years in college and university studying under the child and youth sector. Supporting children and youth in an environment that encompasses nature and creativity is very important to her. Sarah grew up in Brighton ON and lives in Roseneath. She has always lived in small towns and recognizes the power that comes from communities coming together. Sarah is a member of the Artworth steering committee.
“I am looking forward to working alongside Artworth this summer and for the ones to come.”
Lucas Donald
Nature Connection Manager
Lucas is the nature connection manager at Artworth. He is coming back for a third year to lead campers in carving and wilderness crafts, animal tracking, games and mindfulness activities. Lucas has a way of supporting the campers however they need throughout their experience. He is passionate about the outdoors and learning about the intricate lives of plants, animals and all living beings, then passing those lessons on to others through stories. This year Lucas is taking campers (July 14-18) on a field trip to experience life on an active homestead, the Giving Well Farm. This farm includes a large market garden and campers will learn about growing vegetables and keeping chickens as well as lots of creative adventures with the land.
Skyler Hayes
Ceramic Arts
Skyler Hayes is a Western University graduate, who studied medical science, but always had a passion for art. A ceramics class in university solidified her love of sculpture, inspiring her to work on large and small pieces of contemporary ceramics. She creates primarily non-functional sculptural pieces out of stained porcelain, as well as hand sculpted collectable figurines. She got her start in the medium at an art camp in her youth and has experimented with many art forms over the years.
Skyler lives just outside of Campbellford. She is looking forward to inspiring the next generation of young artists at Artworth this summer and sharing some of what she has learned along the way. Senior campers (July 7-11) will make ceramic pieces, including treasure boxes.
Aubrey Dayle
Music Education
Aubrey Dayle received his formal music education at McGill University and Manhattan School of Music in classical and jazz percussion and has performed in various musical styles and situations. He has toured with James “Blood” Ulmer; Hassan Hakmoun and Zahar (support act for Peter Gabriel); God Street Wine; the John Popper Band; Sam Rivers; Ernest Ranglin; and several other artists. While living in New York City, he continued to perform in diverse situations, including two years as the drummer for the Broadway show Bring in ‘Da Noise Bring in Da Funk. As a member of the John Popper Band, he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Aubrey also performed at the famous Carnegie Hall with the New York Metro Mass Choir.
Aubrey is returning to teach at Artworth this Summer by popular demand as part of our twentieth-anniversary celebration. Aubrey will be teaching African jembe drumming in Campbellford (July 14th to 18th) with collaboration for the final performance on July 18th with Lawrence and Onyx.
Kimberly Davidson
Culinary Arts
Kimberly Davidson, crunchy mom of 2 young girls and long-time city dweller turned country star-gazer, graduated with Honours and as Valedictorian from Toronto’s leading school of nutrition, The Institute of Holistic Nutrition. Now the Coordinator for the Trent Hills School Nutrition Program, Kimberly focuses on helping busy families find a healthy balance amongst the everyday chaos!
Once a costume maker for Cirque du Soleil, Kimberly loves bringing that creativity to the kitchen, adapting her techniques to the many skills she learned at school as well as the Authentic Thai Cooking program in Chang Mai, Thailand. She has since worked for many of the great caterers of Toronto, adding healthy twists to the cooking techniques gained from each of them. Kimberly also ran a cafe in the beautiful Toronto Distillery District where she introduced many healthy items to the crowd favourites.
When Kimberly is not in the kitchen, you’ll likely find her cold plunging in the Trent or adventuring through Ferris with her 2 girls and their 3-legged dog, Charlie.
Joshua McKay
Painting & Embroidery
Joshua hails from Havelock, Ontario and we are very excited for them to be joining Artworth as our painting teacher this summer.
Joshua believes in art as a tool for unity and communication. Joshua has been working with different mediums over the years and continues to develop new skills in various media combining them in unconventional ways. Joshua has started to combine their skills as an Education Assistant in the public school system, with being an artist by organizing and facilitating paint nights for the Havelock-Belmont Youth Committee and Intergenerational paint courses through the Havelock Seniors Center.
Joshua is excited about this year’s Interstellar theme and will be encouraging the campers to learn about constellations through acrylic painting and embroidery. Joshua will also be facilitating a twentieth-anniversary mural project, designed by former painting teacher Jeffrey Weekes, and being planned in partnership with the Campbellford Public Library.
Annias Linaris
Song Writing and Improvisation
Annais Linaris is an improviser, musician and eco-social practice artist studying at the University of Guelph’s Critical Studies in Improvisation program. She is curious about arts-based community + kin making with animals and nature, and how these practices can converge into playful rituals leading to collective creation, well-being and delight. Annais lives in Campbellford and is looking forward to singing and playing with the campers this summer and co-creating songs together
Suzanne Schwenger
Music Education
Suzanne Schwenger is an experienced, creative and passionate music educator, with more than 25 years of experience at the Jackman Institute of Child Study Lab School (University of Toronto) teaching early years music (Nursery, JK and SK). Using her piano and singing skills, she encourages all children to move to music, share their singing voices, play instruments, and listen to music from around the world. For the past few years, Suzanne has worked as a certified Smart Start teacher and mentor at the Oscar Peterson School, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Onyx Uriarte
Expressive Arts
Onyx lives in Campbellford and is a sound bath facilitator as well as a Registered Massage Therapist and Acupuncturist with many years of experience in the healing arts. Onyx originally graduated in theatre direction from York University and enjoyed a few years in the theatre world. Theatre experience naturally evolved into a deeper focus on the mind – body connection with the arts, which led Onyx to study Expressive Art Therapy at the Create Institute (Toronto) and yogic movement and meditation at Glass Lake Studio (Albany N.Y). These studies opened the door for Onyx to work within a research project, with a focus on empathy, connected to the Clarke Institute, the Toronto School Board and George Hull Centre. Onyx partnered with grade school teachers utilizing drama and the arts to include a diversity of children in creative group activities, and encourage overall positive group cohesion in the classroom.
Separately and together Onyx and Lawrence Cotton will facilitate a variety of artistic disciplines including: drawing, movement, music and drama. Every child will have fun opportunities to explore their individual strengths and interests and be encouraged to share what lights them up in their small groups.
The campers will be supported to bring what they have shared of their unique ideas into the group co-creations. The final presentations will offer a glimpse of the process and be a celebration of the individual campers and the collective constellations of stars.
Lawrence Cotton
Multi-disciplinary Arts
Award-winning actor, director, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Lawrence Cotton has been exploring these expressive art mediums since his youth. An original cast member of the multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Show Boat, he was later cast in an International touring company of Phantom of the Opera. For close to a decade, Lawrence worked as an artist in education creating and performing ‘Opera for Young Audiences‘ shows; and leading storytelling workshops across Quebec and Ontario. He is currently the music director at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Campbellford and is very excited to share his accumulated experience with the youth of Trent Hills through Artworth.
Lawrence and Onyx Uriarte have dreamed up different multi-disciplinary adventures for Artworth campers in the Campbellford camps inspired by the theme of outer space with the planets and stars. Separately and together Lawrence and Onyx Uriarte will facilitate a variety of artistic disciplines including: drawing, movement, music and drama. In small groups, campers will be encouraged to , express their own inner “Star light” while orbiting in lively constellations with other Star lights.
Nicholas Reynolds
Environmental Education
Nicholas is an Environmental Education Technician with Lower Trent Conservation. Through hands-on games and activities, he will facilitate learning about what makes a habitat for both humans and animals and how we can work together to meet the habitat needs of all living things. The campers will also dive into the amazing role healthy and unique environments such as wetlands play in managing natural hazards such as flooding and erosion. They will explore the animals in the wetland habitat from Deer, Otters and the Great Blue Heron to painted turtles, frogs and giant water bugs. This program highlights how healthy watersheds truly make healthy communities!
Angelica Ottewill
Storytelling & Music
Angelica Ottewill is a retired music and drama teacher as well as a freelance harpist, vocalist and storyteller. She has performed at numerous local events, including the Lilac Festival and Art in the Park. She is a frequent performer at St. Paul’s United Church and has performed for students at Campbellford Public School. You can find her on you-tube: Sir Orfeo, Ghost Fetches, Tales and Tunes of Edith Fowke and The Faithful Wife.
At Artworth, Angelica is working with the juniors in Warkworth. She is teaming up with Sarah Brown who will facilitate lots of creative movement in small groups to accompany the storytelling. The children will also learn the instrumental accompaniment for a song connected to the story using the Orff instruments (xylophones and glockenspiels). The children will have opportunities to sing, play music and act out scenes from the story in tableau.
Lise Varrette and Matt Stearns
Lise and Matt have once again invited junior campers in Warkworth (July 21-25) to walk over to Feather Farm at the edge of the village to meet all the creatures. Here the campers will interact with Pearl, a 6-year old wild Pinto from Chincoteague, and a herd of mini-horses (pictured here) as well as three very friendly sheep and numerous cats. The campers will groom and feed the mini horses, pet the sheep and hear stories about all the members of the herd including 2 big horses and 8 mini-horses. The campers visit in small groups and have lots of time to make friends with the animals and experience all this magical little farm has to offer.
Alex Lowe
Alex Lowe is an illustrator, author, and art instructor from Northumberland County, currently completing a one-year art therapy program in Kitchener. Alex has a passion for storytelling and book illustration and has been creating her own stories and characters from the moment she could hold a pencil. She is a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Illustration at Sheridan College. She illustrated her first published book at the age of 18 and went on to write, illustrate, and publish several more. Her work consists of a varied mix of traditional and digital media, with a current preference for watercolours and ink. Alongside her illustration practice, she enjoys teaching classes for children and families in her community. Alex will make a few guest teaching appearances this Summer. Stay tuned for further details.
Skye Morrison
Skye is silk-screening and decorating t-shirts with all the camps and silk-screening with the Teens during the leadership program.
Skye Morrison Canadian educator, researcher and designer with a lifelong interest in traditional crafts. She received her Ph.D. in Folklore Material Culture) from the University of Pennsylvania. Her MA in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University, and her Diploma in Design (Textiles) from Sheridan College, Canada. She was a professor at Sheridan College School of Crafts and Design from 1978 to 2002 when she left full-time teaching to pursue research projects. Skye Morrison has been an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University, Montreal, since 2000.