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Vol. XIX No. 1 October 2003 |
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Juilliard Students Put the Arts Into Action at Summer Camp The group of civic-minded Juilliard students who founded ArtREACH last year have been dreaming big right from the start—and their biggest dream became a reality last June, when 10 of them launched a summer camp in a Florida community at the southeast tip of the peninsula, a place where the arts could make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children. A Juilliard summer grant covered a substantial portion of the expenses. As part of the process, the ArtREACH students formed an alliance with five Florida community outreach organizations—including ArtSouth, a non-profit exhibition and teaching space with 27 resident artists and a strong educational bent, which served as the camp's location. The Juilliard students spent several months designing the curriculum while their support staff, drawn from the local outreach organizations, were busy recruiting local middle-school children for the camp. A weeklong retreat in Florida before the 43 young campers arrived on June 16 gave all the staffers and teaching artists a chance to consolidate their goals and get a feel for the community and for each other. An ambitious project, the Art-In-Action Summer Camp succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Drama student Abby Gerdts captures for Juilliard Journal readers the phenomenal charge of energy that it brought into the lives of all participants.
"Thank You." Those were the only words we could find to satisfy the need to express how we felt about our three-week adventure in Homestead, Fla. A team of 16 artists (10 of them from the Juilliard community) collaborated this summer in the first (annual) Art-In-Action Summer Camp. It was hot, tedious, grueling, exhausting … and one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Why? Yes, it was because of the awesome team that came together to develop the program and the curriculum, and be counselors at the camp. Yes, it was because we went to the beach several times during our stay. Yes, it was because I got to explore art in yet another capacity. And of course, I don't really even need to mention that the food we had down there was absolutely delicious. But far surpassing all of those reasons was the fact that the kids and young adults we worked with in Homestead were undeniably amazing. And so, at the closing-night performance, the small token we decided to give to them was a song called "Kind and Generous" (written by Natalie Merchant), which we sang a capella. It seemed like we should have said or done something more for them that night—but there was really no other way to express what we felt. The theme for the two-week camp was, appropriately, "Standing on Common Ground." The campers came from all backgrounds and walks of life. Many of them were first-generation Americans whose parents had emigrated from other countries. There were also huge differences in economic backgrounds among the campers, and some of them were not even directly from the Homestead community. So, to say that these kids were different from one another would be a huge understatement. This extreme diversity contributed to the nervousness we counselors experienced going into the camp, but ultimately, the way the kids responded to each other and to the staff was one of the most rewarding things I have ever witnessed. Being able to watch these kids work, play, and collaborate with each other was truly inspiring. The campers were given the chance to choose one of the four art divisions for which we had developed specific curriculums. Classes focusing on music, dance, drama, and visual art were their options. Each division ended up with between 10 to 12 campers, which made for a grand total of 43 middle-schoolers who finished the two weeks of camp. Although each of the kids was assigned to one specific art form, they only took those classes in the afternoon. In the morning, the kids were mixed together and exposed to the other three art forms through games and simple exercises. I thought this aspect would present an especially difficult task for us after my first conversation with one 12-year-old boy the weekend before camp began. "So what division are you going to be in?" I asked. "Art" was his curt reply. "Oh, awesome! Well, I'm one of the acting counselors, so we'll be…" "I hate dancing, I hate music, and I really hate acting." He then looked up at me as if to say, "I dare ya to reply to that one." "Oh, O.K., um…," I stammered—and then I think I pretended I had to go take care of something really important as I stood up and made my way out the door. Because of that first encounter with him, I am especially proud to say that in less than a week he was begging me to let his group have more drama class time in the mornings, and that he and Craig (a bassist, one of the music counselors from California) were practically inseparable, due partly to the energetic music classes that Craig taught.
Natasha Rojas, 6/18/03: Well, I'm going to be totally honest, Monday I wasn't sure about coming here, but I came anyway. When I first walked in I was so nervous and scared. But then we played Ice-Breakers. (That's something I look forward to every morning.) While playing I made some really cool friends!! Visual arts is so cool. Especially the Mural we're going to start. Drama is awesome. I love it. Dance is really cool, so is music. Honestly I love being here. I look forward to coming here for the next nine days!! Emily Padura, 6/18/03: Today I had music then drama. After that I had dance. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dance. It's like all your emotions changed into actions. You can dance the way you feel. I love it when we can turn off all the lights and do all sorts of stuff and you can't be shy because no one can see you. I love all of the different areas like drama. I can't wait to go drawing and painting. My dad's an artist and I just love the arts. Emily Padura, 6-24-03: I think culture and diversity is very important. If you are exposed to culture and diversity you will be more open to a lot more things. You will also experience different opinions. It will make you feel as if you were standing on common ground. As a team, we established three broad goals going into the camp, so that we could stay focused and not lose sight of why we were there. The goals were: 1) to empower the participating students with a greater sense of self-worth and self-discipline and to strengthen communication skills through their own unique and combined artistry; 2) to enforce the importance of community and ensemble; 3) to demonstrate the immediacy and relevancy of the arts to their community. Personally, I believe we achieved all of these goals early on in the process, but it was especially clear during the closing-night performance of Art-In-Action Summer Camp 2003. The auditorium was packed with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, friends, and even the mayor of Homestead, who attended this important event. From the beginning introductions of the staff and the performance, the room was full of energy as everyone began to file outside for the unveiling of a beautiful mural, which the art students had worked so long and hard on. Then it was back inside, to begin the performing arts section of the program. Some of the drama students served as hosts for the evening, introducing three dance pieces, three selections by the musicians, and a series of short skits and improvisations by the acting students.It was an amazing thing to see how proud these kids were of the art they had created over two short weeks. They were all just loving every minute that they had on stage, and they really put together a tremendous performance for their friends and loved ones. And so—when it was all over and we counselors finally had a chance to share with these special kids our experience of being a part of the Art-In-Action Summer Camp—the only thing we could do was to thank them for their hard work, playful spirits, and most of all, just for being the wonderful kids that they are. Thanks, you guys.
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