Fay Jones School's Summer Design Camp Held in Four Cities, With Registration Through May 26

Photo by Alex Gladden

Students in the summer 2016 Design Camp tour and sketch the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, a design by the late Fay Jones.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design will host four Design Camp sessions this summer in four cities around the state. These weeklong sessions are planned for this June in Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Little Rock and Wilson, and online registration is now available.

The school's Design Camp is a way to teach students about architecture and design and to explore what those look like as potential future careers. As the camp has gained popularity over the years, it has evolved in many ways — extending hours, adding locations and offering more challenging design projects for advanced students and a residential option on the University of Arkansas campus.

"As the only school of professional programs in architecture, landscape architecture and interior design within the state's flagship campus, we work to promote the value of design across the entire state and its citizenry," said Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School. "Our programs in community education, especially those oriented toward K-12 education, are an important outreach initiative for the school. Design Camp, in particular, is our signature program in this initiative, and its enrollment continues to grow in all four locations. Importantly, we are now working in the Delta, and our Wilson Camp is just the first of our expansion into this vital region of the state."

Each Design Camp session incorporates the three disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture and interior design and offers projects that include all three areas of design. Students have the chance to be exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking, gain expanded perspectives and practice new skills, such as sketching and making models, said Alison Turner, a faculty member in architecture and the Design Camp director.

The three camp sessions will be held from June 12-16 on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville; from June 19-23 at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs and at The Delta School in Wilson; and from June 26-30 at Arkansas Studies Institute in Little Rock.

The Fayetteville, Little Rock and Hot Springs camps are for students going into ninth through 12th grades, while the Wilson camp is for students going into third through 12th grades.

Each area of design has inspired a camp location: Hot Springs focuses more on landscape architecture, Little Rock focuses on the urban aspects of design, and Fayetteville offers the perspective of design on campus and in various areas of the community. The camp in Wilson is located at The Delta School, and it takes advantage of their curriculum and resources, which include a maker space.

For the second year, the Fayetteville camp is offering a residential option and an advanced level of instruction for returning students or those more experienced in art and design. Students can choose to only attend the day camp, which will end each day at 4 p.m., or to also stay overnight in a residence hall on campus.

The residential option - which is already filled to capacity for this summer - was added to give students more time to work on projects and to enable them to better balance the design work and activities of camp. It also allows students who live in cities farther away to attend the weeklong camp. Fay Jones School students will serve as counselors for the overnight campers, who will stay in a campus residence hall.

Last year, the Fayetteville camp had about 60 students, with about half of them in the residential portion.

"The residential portion of camp is a great opportunity for students to extend their Design Camp experience and make new friends who have similar interests," Turner said. "After the camp was over for the day, the students participated in more relaxing activities, like going to Dickson Street to get frozen yogurt, having a barbeque, movie night and just hanging out in the common spaces in the dorms."

The overnight option has allowed the Fayetteville camp to be a destination for students from a broader geographic area. Students this year will come to Fayetteville from Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

In recent years, some students have attended Design Camp for multiple years. An advanced track was designed to give those who'd been before, or those with more developed art and design skills, a slightly different experience that engages them on a deeper level.

"The advanced Design Camp is a great experience for students who have been to our camp before, or who have studied architecture and design in school," Turner said. "This path allows students to have a more in-depth look at the design professions, with tours to local design firms, and the project they work on during the week is more challenging. The advanced camp is a great opportunity for students who are seriously thinking about pursuing a career in design."

Design Camp is one part of the school's community outreach, which aims to provide general design education to young students and other community members. Even if those who attend camp don't choose design as a career path, they will have a broader appreciation of it in their lives.

Fay Jones School faculty members and students also participate with Design Camp in various ways to make it happen. The faculty members who teach with Turner during the camp collaborate and plan all year for how the three design areas will be incorporated into the selected project.

 "Our Fay Jones School students participate in the camp as teaching assistants and overnight counselors, which is great because they are a tremendous help to the teaching faculty and bring their energy to the camp. But they also share their experiences of being a design student with the campers and bring that perspective to the camp," Turner said.

The camp is $350 for regular registration by May 26. The overnight option for Fayetteville is already full. Need-based full and partial scholarships are available. Details and registration links can be found on the Design Camp page on the school's website.

For more information, contact Judy Stone at jkstone@uark.edu or 479-575-2399.