Tarbut Part One - Studio Arts

At Camp Ramah we have a wide variety of activities in which campers can explore creativity.  From art and woodworking, to music, dance, drama, and radio, campers can find a place to express themselves and develop their own special voice.

Ben Skupsky, Menachem Portnoe, Hilla Ariel (Nagarut/Woodworking Staff):  In Nagarut, basically, whatever the campers want to make, they can make-from boxes to mezuzot, to bats, to shelves, anything they can come up with.  It's important to have an activity like woodworking at camp because it's another outlet for creativity.  Some people can express themselves through dancing or drawing, and others can show their creativity through how they manipulate wood.  We also encourage the campers to have some kind of Jewish aspect to their projects.

A conversation with Omanut Staff:

Sophie Krupp (Omanut/Art Staff):  In Omanut we help the campers do whatever kind of art project they want, and we are also expected to do a project of our own.

Nathan Shapiro (Omanut/Art Staff): We have a supply closet full of just about any sort of art supply you can think of, anything to help campers boost their creativity and think on a different level that they don't do in any of the other tarbut.

Sophie: Our job is to do a variety of projects to inspire the kids without outright telling them what to do.  They can see us do our projects and then get inspired to come up with their own.

Nathan:  As staff members we're expected to be doing some kind of art project at any given point so we can help inspire and engage the campers and help them to think in an artistic manner.

Sophie:  For the campers who want more structure, we also offer specific classes for the older eidot.

Nathan:  I personally teach a pencil-drawing class to Machon where we talk about simple shadows, shading, structure and shapes.  This week we're going to start working on still life drawings. At the beginning of an average day, the campers come in and we're waiting to greet them and ask them what they want to work with that day.  They can say any supply they want and we get it for them.  When they start working, we sit down next to them and work along with them.  We help them and throw ideas back and forth with them.

Sophie:  We also leave supplies out all the time so the campers can choose to work with that media if they don't have a specific idea for that day.

Nathan: In a place that bases itself on organized religion, art serves as a way for people to do their own interpretation for that.  It gives them a way to express themselves that isn't so structured.  There are so many different ways you can do art, so many different interpretations of a single subject matter, that no person can make the same piece of art as someone else.  It really gives you the chance to develop individuality and independence.

Sophie:  I think for some kids it's hard to express themselves in a more conventional way such as singing or writing or speaking.  Art gives people a better way to express themselves so they don't have to be articulating it verbally or writing it down.  They can just explore the different media and do what they want with it.

Nathan:  We encourage our campers to find a Judaic subject matter, not necessarily making something conventional like a menorah or a Kiddush cup, but we encourage them to think about Jewish ideas and incorporate that into their artwork.