Sanctifed art camp at Looney’s Complex June 15-19

LAKESHORE - The Looney’s Tavern Complex will truly being living up to its mission of education as it hosts a  unique art camp for the county’s children this month
Sanctified Performing Arts, a ministry of the Carrie Hester Burdick Foundation, will be hosting its first-ever Sanctified Art Camp Monday, June 15, through Friday,  June, June 19, from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. each day at the Looney’s Tavern Complex, located off of Highway 278 east of Double Springs.  The camp, which will be open for children ages 5-17, will feature a wide range of classes, including music, drawing, dance, acting, woodworking, sculpting, music theory, martial arts and more.
“We’re going to have all kinds of cool classes.  We’re going to do all kinds of fun stuff.  We want to have lots of different options for boys and girls,”  the camp’s creator, MaKenna Burdick, 17, of Addison, said.
 Burdick came up with the idea for the camp after seeing how successful the ministry’s first public project was this spring.  Burdick’s play “The Fight for Truth,” was preformed April 12,  at Looney’s.  Twenty children, along with volunteers, brought they play to life and really enjoyed the process.
Burdick is fully immersed in the arts.  She has been dancing her entire life, performing many different styles of dance, as well as acting.  She welcomes input in all her creative endeavors, something that she really took to heart while working on her recent play’s production.  She is bringing that same collaborative spirit to the art camp.
“A lot of the kids in the play were under 18, but there were also several who came who were 18 and up.  A lot of them are coming back to help with the camp, to volunteer.  I have been bouncing ideas off of them,”  Burdick said.
The theme for the camp will be Art in the Bible and how art can be used to praise God and spread the Gospel in the modern world.
“We plan to look at some of the different Bible stories that include art and different  examples, too,”  Burdick said, giving examples of art in the Bible as the Psalms, passages in the Bible that mention dancing and the parables.
“It’s all through the Bible.  There’s all kinds of examples of different art forms,”  Burdick said.
Each day will have a different theme, which will be explained at the beginning of the camp day, then be incorporated into the different classes.
Each day will begin with a devotional, followed by two class rotations in the morning, lunch (attendees must provide their own lunch), followed by two more class rotations in the afternoon. The camp will be non-denominational, Burdick said. 
Burdick is thrilled with the number of volunteers who have agreed to help with the camp.
“I plan on having teachers giving instructions on what to do, but allowing the students to go with their creativity and do what they want to do.  That will be good for even the younger kids involved, to feel like they have had a role in it.”

A parent showcase will be held at the end of the camp, with the time to be determined.
Winston County Arts Council President J.D. Snoddy and Vice President Theresa Snoddy are thrilled to host the camp at the Looney’s Complex, which has a mission of providing educational opportunities for children from every corner of Winston County..
“We welcome all types of education events here.  The original owners of Looney’s wanted to education people about the history of Winston County,”  J.D. said, adding that education has always been at the heart of the mission at Looney’s.
“This will be a good character-building thing.  Kids need to hear more good things,”  J.D. said.
Theresa is very proud of the work Burdick is doing with the camp.
“We started the Arts Council in 2007, to give school kids at least a little bit of art instruction.  We have been sending part-time art teachers into the schools as we can, not as much as we want to.  This camp is the arts, and we are thrilled that she is doing this.  Kids need this,”  Theresa said.
Along with her work operating the Carrie Hester Burdick Foundation, Burdick hopes to work in the arts in the future, possibly teaching dance.  She also writes and records Christian contemporary music.
Burdick’s parents, Benny and Melanie Burdick, are very proud of their daughter and how she is using her creativity to give back to the community.
“Ever since she was a little bitty girl, she has never been selfish.  Even as a child, she would go and play with little kids instead of her friends because they asked her to.  It has to come from her Father,”  Melanie said.  
“She wants to encourage children.  Kids are her passion.  It’s a blessing and a gift from the Father,”  Melanie added.  
MaKenna invites all the area’s children to come out and participate in this camp.
“God makes all of us with different passions, different interests and different gifts.  I think everybody has something, even if they haven’t found it yet.  God has a purpose for all of us.  Sometimes it just takes looking.  I hope that this camp can be an opportunity for lots of kids to come together and try to test out some of those things and see what their passions might be,”  MaKenna said.
The camp is free, but registration is required.  To register, go to https://forms.gle/pb5vNo7DPtzBtUuv7.
Once parents register their children for the camp, they will be sent a list of supplies they will need, such as the types of clothes to wear.  Students will need to provide their own lunches each day.
The Carrie Hester Burdick Foundation provides Bibles to the graduating seniors at Addison High School each year.  Benny, is the president of the non-profit, which was founded in memory of MaKenna’s great-grandmother, Carrie Hester Burdick.
Anyone who would like to make a donation to the camp can do so by sending a check to:

Carrie Hester Burdick Foundation
Attn:  Sanctified Performing Arts
P.O. Box 93
Addison, AL 35540

Checks can be made out to Sanctified Performing Arts or to the Carrie Hester Burdick Foundation.  The Carrie Hester Burdick Foundation is a 501(c)(3), so donations are tax deductible.  
“We are very grateful to the Winston County Arts Council.  They have been very gracious working with us, allowing us to use their facility.  They have been a blessing,”  Benny said.