ArtsXtreme camp is back! After a 2-year hiatus since 2006, it has made a comeback and is being held in Blacksburg’s Lyric Theatre.

Lucinda McDermott Piro of Radford University, the founder of the camp, has invested a lot of time and finances into the camp, and will be teaching all the offered classes. The camp is offered to children of the New River Valley between the 1st and 12th grades.

“[The goal of the camp is] to provide children in the New River Valley with an opportunity to explore how theater can enhance their lives by giving them a medium in which to actively process their world,” Piro said. “Class content and focus will be geared to that particular age groups’ interest and development.”

Piro has had more than 20 years of experience in the theater community, including playwriting, directing, and acting. She has set out to spread her knowledge to those who attend ArtsXtreme.

“I see myself more as a facilitator of creativity,” Piro said. “I do not subscribe to the dictatorial concept of simply telling a young artist who to do for the sake of a perfect end product.”

Each week of the camp is divided by age group, and Piro is hoping to have at least 10 campers per week.  There will be a play at the end of each week, although that is not the entire focus of the camp.

“The emphasis of this camp is on the quality of the children’s daily experience in the process of creating theater. Process over product,” Piro said, “product” referring to the play. 

Piro is optimistic that the attendees will learn about more than just what goes into creating a theatrical production. 

“[I hope the students gain] confidence in their own ability to make something come alive, an appreciation for ensemble and team work, an appreciation for the magic of collaboration and process, that a group of people do have a goal, they brainstorm, they democratically refine, delegate, and do,” Piro said. “They try, they fail, they try again, they succeed, and out of nothing, they have created an amazing work of art.”

The camp began Monday, June 22, and Piro hopes the camp will be a staple of the summer for children in the New River Valley for years to come.

Rachel Shapiro is an intern for the New River Voice