Meet the Team

About.

Mission

Help youth make meaningful art.

Vision

We envision a community of educators, creative professionals, community organizers, business people, philanthropists, and students knit together by their passion for art and education, coming together regularly to understand the connection between who we are and the places we live.

About

Wonderful things happen when you really listen to kids. Most obviously, you learn about them and their wild, unfettered imaginations. More importantly, they feel valued and begin to value themselves in response. When they do, those wild imaginations take flight and we get to dream with them as a community.

The experience of listening is even more meaningful when you encourage them to explore an inspiring place. Our program was founded in Alaska, which is blessed with beautiful scenery. But our people’s relationship with place goes deeper than appearances. Place is context, and it is context that gives meaning to much of what we do as kids and as adults. We encourage young people to represent their own relationship with place through art.

We do this as teaching artists—adults with experience and credentials in teaching and with creative passions of our own. We weave student interests into collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that they are excited to share with their community. We help them develop the skills they need to carry out their projects by bringing in experts. We open up the theme of relationship with place and plant seeds for reflection. We celebrate their success and follow up with them after camp is over.

We do this because art and education empower people to understand and express themselves.