(Photo: CAMP-La Ronge Youth Summer Camp Recording Session with Mentors and Mentees, taken by Eliza Doyle)
The Community Arts Mentorship Program (C.A.M.P.) has been awarded a big grant through the Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund’s Capacity Building Grant. The grant is provided through the Grod Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund.
C.A.M.P. was founded in 2020 by Eliza Doyle (Settler, Juno-winner) and Holly Yuzicapi (Standing Buffalo, Knowledge Keeper). C.A.M.P. focuses on providing music education, mentorship, and experiences in rural communities in the province.
“It just started off by wanting to bring arts programming into under-served populations, to communities that might not have the resources to have music, art teachers, and arts experiences, and we know that the arts are so much more than just an activity,” said Doyle.
One of the programs that C.A.M.P. offers is the Music Teacher Mentorship Program, which trains musicians in Saskatchewan on how to teach music in schools.
“We are working in Stanley Mission, La Ronge, Hall Lake, and Sucker River right now and one of our biggest challenges is finding enough trained musicians who are music teachers that we can put into the schools, so now we have a grant where we can train musicians on how to be music teachers,” explained Doyle.
The Music Teacher Mentorship Program will be running until funding runs out and is a flexible option for those interested. Musicians can shadow mentors in schools and get hands on experience as a music teacher.
“We have youth music camps coming up in the summer, one in La Ronge and one in Beauval. We do those every year, watch out for some advertising and permission slips for them, they are both in July,” said Doyle.
Other programs and experiences offered by C.A.M.P. include Hip Hop Collaboration, Fiddle Teacher Mentorship, Trauma & Cultural-Sensitivity Training, Girls Rock Camp, Northern Lights Bluegrass Music Camp & Festival Partnership, Music Curriculum Development and, Doylefest.
C.A.M.P. has worked with students in communities to create songs and music videos, they made the song “Old Rusty Town” with students from the Valley View School in Beauval in 2022.
https://youtu.be/PJy3gKAozH4?si=Cqjj2Qd0fnqVgYJ6
For more information on C.A.M.P. and programs offered, visit their website.