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Manitoga Camp Has Best Season Yet
 | | Artist Grace Knowlton discusses her sculpture Spheres III/Untitle with campers during week four of Manitoga's Summer Nature & Design Camp |
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In its best season yet, Manitoga's Summer Nature & Design Camp was host to more than one hundred children ages 5 to 12 this summer. Under the direction of incomparable Haldane teacher and reptile enthusiast Mark Wick, the camp's five weekly sessions were filled to capacity.
Since it began nearly two decades ago, Manitoga's camp has provided a unique opportunity for children to experience Russel Wright's intertwined natural and manmade worlds. A tour of Wright's Home and Studio gave campers a peek at how a successful industrial designer lived and worked and introduced them to the range of design elements that he used. They marveled at the 100-year-old cedar tree supporting the ceiling beam in the living/dining area, white pine needles embedded in the Studio ceiling, and colorful butterflies set in a plastic resin bathroom panel.
Manitoga Assistant Director Lori Moss, who served as the children's tour guide, also shared with them the challenges involved in historic restoration and the importance of historic preservation for our community.
An impressive roster of Guest Educators provided exciting lessons in nature and design and gave the children opportunities to exercise their creativity. Local musician Kathleen Pemble shared folk songs on her guitar with firstweek campers and led a group sing-a-long.
Artist Carla Goldberg visited Manitoga before her week at the camp to develop an art project that would help put the children in touch with Wright's love of nature and experimentation with materials. "I really loved the way Russel took natural materials - leaves, ferns and butterflies - and set them in the plastic panels," said Goldberg. During week two, she helped the children embed natural materials they had collected while hiking in acrylic resin to create small artworks.
During week three, storyteller Jonathan Kruk helped campers flex their improvisational skills and develop short skits for their "Theater Week" performances of Anansi the Spider, The Birth of the Sun, and How the Spider Got Its Legs.
Grace Knowlton, creator of Spheres III/Untitle", one of four sculptures currently on exhibition in Manitoga's landscape as part of the Garrison Art Center-sponsored "Current" sculpture show, came for week four. Grace invited questions from the young campers, who were curious to know why she creates sculpture and what kinds of materials she uses. She then led them in making their own clay creations.
Well-known New York naturalist, "Wildman" Steve Brill, wrapped up the season by leading campers into the woods for hands-on experience with foraging. The children learned how to make root beer from sassafras, identified native teas, and discovered how to spot some of the important differences between poisonous and edible mushrooms. Each camper went home with a bagful of wild food.
Manitoga's 75-acre landscape affords ample opportunity for young campers to observe reptiles and other wildlife in their natural habitats. With Mark Wick's direction, the children created terrariums for observing the creatures back at the campsite. Hikes to Lost Pond, scavenger hunts, sneaker-creeking, games in the meadow, and more interesting art projects with Artistsin Residence Filomena Riganti and Kathie Scanlon rounded out a summer of fun. Approximately twenty local students served as counselors and teen volunteers throughout the camp season.
Russel Wright set about creating a landscape to help visitors learn how to live in harmony with nature. As a result, he also designed an exploratory space that is ideal for children. Manitoga's Summer Nature & Design Camp infuses young minds with an appreciation of nature and helps them experience how art and design can enrich everyday life. It challenges children to observe the natural world around them, soak up the knowledge that abounds there, and allow nature to inspire creativity. A grant from the Helena Rubenstein Foundation is helping Manitoga integrate Russel Wright's philosophy into the Summer Nature & Design curriculum and other programs.
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