Fay Jones School to Host Two Summer Design Camps in June

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Phoebe McCormick Lickwar, center, a landscape architecture professor, discusses the design project with students on site during the Fay Jones School of Architecture’s 2013 summer design camp.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Junior high and high school students looking for a creative way to spend part of this summer are in luck. The Fay Jones School of Architecture is hosting its fourth summer Design Camp, but this year it will be offered to more ages of students and in two locations in the state.

The first four-day camp will be held from June 16-19 in Vol Walker Hall on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. The second camp will be from June 23-26 at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. Concurrent camps will be held at each location for students going into ninth grade and for students going into grades 10 through 12.

The camps will offer hands-on projects, tours, movies and discussions led by architecture, landscape architecture and interior design faculty members from the Fay Jones School. The camps are a chance for students to learn the basic elements and principles of design, so that they can start thinking about the potential of a design education and profession. It is also a way for the Fay Jones School to recruit future students who show an early interest and talent in design.

Camp participants will learn about the design disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture and interior design, and about the career paths for these disciplines. Faculty instructors will discuss the differences and similarities of the disciplines and describe how designers in each distinct field work together in professional practice.

Last year, students worked on a project to design a standalone reading room located on a hillside near a paved trail on the U of A campus. Each camper was asked to incorporate three elements into their designs: a landscape element (in this case, a water feature); an architectural element (a wall and an overhead structure); and a seating element, to help define the interior space.

While designing a project is the main focus of the Design Camp, participants also will do additional exercises, such as creating inspiration collages, sketching exercises and brainstorming.

Alison Turner, visiting assistant professor of architecture, Phoebe McCormick Lickwar, assistant professor of landscape architecture, and Aubrey Pate, adjunct professor of interior design, will lead the camp sessions this summer.

Turner said the overall purpose is to walk the participants through the process that architects, landscape architects and interior designers go through when they work on a project. The instructors also take one day to tour local design projects so participants can better grasp the ideas that have been discussed. In the past, they have visited the residence that the late Fay Jones designed for his family; the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel, also a Jones design; and the Keenan TowerHouse, designed by Marlon Blackwell Architect in Fayetteville.

“I really enjoy being able to share my passion for architecture with young students and hopefully help inspire them to pursue their interests in the design professions,” Turner said. “The Design Camp is a wonderful way for them to gain some insight into the process we go through in designing a project – and to take a little bit of the mystery out of how things are designed and built.”

Supplies for the activities, as well as lunches, will be provided to the students.

The cost for each camp is $250 for early registration by March 31. The cost is $300 for registration by May 23. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available.

To register, or for more information, contact Shawna Barnes at slbarnes@uark.edu or 479-575-4907.