Fay Jones School Summer Design Camp Expands to Residential Option, Fourth Camp Location

Photo by Alex Gladden

Students in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design 's summer Design Camp tour the Welcome Pavilion for the Bachman-Wilson House at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The pavilion was designed and built by students of the Fay Jones School.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Design Camp program hosted each summer by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas has grown to include four camp sessions in four locations throughout the state.

A camp has been held on the U of A campus in Fayetteville for several years, and the number of students attending has increased over time. This year, 54 students attended the Fayetteville camp, said Alison Turner, Design Camp instructor and director.

For the first time, this year's Fayetteville camp offered students the choice between taking Design I and II — a basic or an advanced session — plus the option to stay overnight, Turner said.

Twelve students opted to take Design II, which offered a more complex curriculum and design project, said Noah Billig, the Design II instructor. The Design II students also took an extra field trip, touring downtown Fayetteville to explore EcoModern Flats and multiple design firms.

Another day, students in both the Design I and II groups visited Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, designed by Fay Jones, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, designed by Moshe Safdie.

The Fayetteville camp also allowed students to stay in a campus residence hall overnight, allowing several out-of-state students to attend the camp, Billig said. Twenty-two students stayed in Humphreys Hall during the camp.

In the Design I section, taught by Turner, Carl Smith and Kim Furlong, students designed an outdoor classroom located on Maple Hill. This area of campus is near the John W. Tyson Building and across from the Reynolds Razorback Stadium parking lot known as "the pit."

For their project, Design II students designed a coffee shop, including an outdoor patio, which would be attached to the Fred and Mary Smith Exhibition Gallery in Vol Walker Hall.

In addition to Fayetteville, Design Camp was held this year in three other locations: Hot Springs, Little Rock and, the newest addition, Wilson, in northeast Arkansas. The Wilson Camp was at The Delta School, and 12 students attended this camp at the end of June.

Turner was the sole instructor at the camp in Wilson, where students were between eight and 12 years old. This differs from the other three camps, in which students are typically between 13 and 18 years old.

Despite their younger ages, the students in the Wilson camp had a similar curriculum to the other students. Turner said she taught the classes through shorter, smaller exercises and made choosing the building site a group activity.

In comparison to older students, Turner said, "it was easier for them to jump straight into the project." Most of the students also worked in teams, she said.

The first day of camp, the students had a surprise visit from Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who happened to be visiting The Delta School. Hutchinson spoke to the students and answered their questions, Turner said.

Students at the Wilson Camp took a field trip to Memphis, where they toured the Shelby Farms Visitor's Center, a project by Marlon Blackwell Architects, and Archimania, an architecture firm in the city.

The Hot Springs camp also took place at the end of June at Garvan Woodland Gardens, the university's botanical garden. Furlong taught the eight students at this camp.

Every morning Becca Ohman, the gardens director and a UA alumna, led the students on a tour of the garden. The students also spent a lot of time at the beginning of the week creating observation drawings.

Furlong focused on teaching the students the different design disciplines. "They learn whether it's something they'd be interested in doing in the future," Furlong said.

The students' projects were designs of a food vendor and picnic area within the garden.

Next year, camp leaders might add a field trip into Hot Springs to the camp agenda, Furlong said.

Smith led the 15 students in the Little Rock camp, held June 20-24 at the Arkansas Studies Institute in downtown Little Rock. The students spent three days observing the Little Rock River Market through drawings in their Concertina sketchbook.

Following the camp, one of Smith's students sent him a letter, noting that the experience "changed the way I look at design and the world around me."

 In Little Rock, the students' camp project required them to design a space in the alley behind Kilwins candy and ice cream shop. All of their designs were unique and did not imitate each other's work, Smith said. Some of the students' ideas included a theater stage, a café and a public art space.

"It was grounded in the actual, physical and cultural aspects of the alley and the surrounding area," Smith said.