When community artist Melissa Arellano found an Iggy’s bread box on the side of the road, she brought it to Still Life Studios on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge, where she holds her Recycled Arts Camp. With the help of her students, they turned trash into treasure.
Twinkle lights, yarn, hot glue, and creativity transformed the bread box into the Recycled City, now home to Nutty, a felt squirrel, and a little duck dressed in a mini Harvard sweater. The collaborative creation lives at Still Life, and grows as campers find new items to incorporate.
“[The campers] tinker with the parts that once made something else. They just find new life in it,” Missy Arellano told The Voice as she walked around the studio. “They don’t need all these fancy things to play with.”
An artist that specializes in collages, Arellano moved to Belmont from California a few years ago with her family to earn her master’s in education policy and analysis with a concentration in arts and learning from Harvard. She would often walk by Still Life, located a few blocks from the heart of Harvard Square.
Still Life Studios began as a vintage store, but has pivoted to become “more of an artist collective,” owner Emily Caulfield said. The studio hosts collage nights, and is a coworking space for artists who focus on reuse, including Arellano who rents out the space for camp.
With windows overlooking the Charles River, the studio is lit with warm, overhead lights draped with mulberry paper and dried flowers. It teems with items waiting to be repurposed; from the glossy magazines lining the wall to bins of scrap paper and drawers overflowing with pipecleaners, stamps, and markers. A green record player rests in the corner, piping out soft tunes.
Arellano started out hosting collage nights at Still Life. She asked Caulfield if she could host a camp during April break, which turned out to be a success, she said. Now, the Recycled Arts Camp encourages kids to stretch their imagination using unlikely materials.
There is a mountain of misfit recycles in the back of the studio that the kids can “shop” from. Yarn, origami, and New Yorker magazines decorate the work table covered in a sheet of brown paper. Judging by the doodles and signatures on the paper, it had been there for a while.
“I take out the trash, like, every two weeks,” Arellano said, looking at the table and laughing. In the studio, everything is reusable.
Freedom to Play
On the last day of camp before Arellano takes a brief hiatus, campers were particularly enraptured by MAGNA-TILES, a magnetic building block toy.
“We don’t really use the computer or phone a lot,” she said. “This is a time for them to be free with their imagination.”
At camp, technology is used as a supplement for learning. The other day, for example, the campers built a MAGNA-TILE tower so tall it started to tilt. The group then gathered around the computer to research the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Arellano has ample experience with early childhood education and development. In addition to her degree, she previously worked at PBS in California, and more recently at a preschool in Cambridge. She is particularly interested in Reggio Emilia, an early childhood philosophy that focuses on providing children with creative autonomy.
There is a structure to the camp, but Arellano allows for creative leeway. If campers are gravitating towards other creative pursuits (like those irresistible MAGNA-TILES) she supports them.
Belmont resident Ciara Glenmullen’s six-year-old daughter, who attended the camp, loved this structure.
“She said it was her favorite camp she did this summer,” said Glenmullen. “She loved [the freedom] to take the art in whatever direction she wanted to.”
“Process Over Product”
Each day of camp typically includes some outdoors time. A block away from the studio is Longfellow Park, a lush enclave just off of bustling Mt. Auburn, where the group watercolors and climbs trees.
Arriving at the park, one camper twisted the lid off his applesauce pouch. “Missy, I have a cap for you,” he said.
Every item, no matter how small, gets a second life at the studio.
As the campers climbed the branches, Arellano watercolored some of the lavender bushes nearby. She spoke candidly about the rising costs of summer camps, and how she noticed how quickly summer schedules fill up in this area. The Recycled Art Camp offers limited scholarships and a flexible schedule to address both of these concerns. Being new to the area, she wants to contribute positively to the community, she said.
Most of all, she wants the kids to be free in their creativity. It’s not about walking away with a beautiful painting, she said, but the excitement of creating.
“My philosophy is process over product,” she said.
The Recycled Arts Camp is for kids ages 5 to 12. Campers can sign up for the whole week, or individual days. For more details and to sign up, visit Missy Arellano’s website: missyarellano.com/kidsrecycledartcamp