Registration deadlines are fast approaching for summer camps at the Averitt Center for the Arts, and program director Tony Phillips said he expects more than 300 campers will sign up, similar to last summer.

"Our summer camps are, of course, art related in some way or another and are also content specific, where we work on basically one area at a time," Phillips said.

There also will be a few surprises this summer, including the Averitt's first Summer Stock theater series, which will consist of different types of plays for patrons and out-of-town guests. College-level theater students and community actors will produce the shows, which will be performed at the Whitaker Black Box Theatre on West Main Street.
Also new are several camps and workshops, including Musical Ceramics, Adult Dance Workshop, Bel Canto singing, Lil' Tykes Art Camp, Multimedia Works on Paper, Fiction Writing Camp (ages 10-14) and Fiction Writing Camp for Teens (ages 14-17), Middle School Show Choir Clinic, Advanced Drawing and Painting for Elementary (ages 5-11), High School Show Choir, Summer Singers, Doll "MakeUNDER" Camp - Real Dolls for Real Girls, Animal Adventure Art Camp, Mosaic Madness, Poetry Camp, "Honk!" Musical Theatre and Performance Camp, and Teen Summer Studio: Drawing Intensive.

"The ceramic camps fill up the fastest due to limited classroom space," Phillips said.

If you're looking for a way to save on tuition, consider becoming a member of the Averitt Center.

"The most popular member benefits at the connoisseur level or above are discounts on our classes, invitations to our member-only gallery openings and two free tickets to the show of their choice," Phillips said.

Camps will begin on June 6, and the registration deadline for each camp is the Wednesday before it begins.

"In the beginning, we only dreamed of having this many summer camps," Phillips said. "It's a dream come true for us."

For detailed information on each camp, visit www.averittcenterforthearts.org. If you're interested in registering, you can do so online, in person or over the phone by calling (912) 212-2787.