By Elizabeth Green
The Razorback Reporter
Nearly 100 high school students traveled to the UofA campus to attend the Fay Jones School Summer Design Camp, where they engaged in extensive hands-on projects geared toward encouraging careers in design.
Weeklong camps take place each summer in four cities across the state, from the Delta town of Wilson to the busy city of Fayetteville.
“Students will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty and collaborate with peers in a fun and creative studio environment while they walk with you through the design process,” according to the Fay Jones website.
Senior Andrew Wright was one of several teaching assistants at the Fayetteville Design Camp this summer.
“My duties mainly included marketing the camp in schools and other educational facilities across Arkansas and preparing materials for the camps themselves,” Wright said.
The Fayetteville camp had two classes, one geared toward beginner architecture and design students, and another for more advanced students, Wright said. Design Camp I students worked to develop a pavilion that would be placed on the Old Main lawn, while Design Camp II students developed a proposal for a permanent farmer’s market pavilion behind Chipotle near the Fayetteville Greenway.
Josephine Boynton is a former Design Camp student; she is now a freshman in the Fay Jones School.
“Design Camp was what made me decide to come to University of Arkansas,” Boynton said. “It allowed me to fall in love with both Fayetteville and the Fay Jones School, and it’s also where I met some of my best friends and my roommate.”
As the camp continues to grow in popularity, it is being modified to draw more students’ interest.
“The camp has made some major strides in the past few years and the success is discernible,” Wright said.
These changes have included offering more challenging projects for advanced students, creating additional camp locations and even offering an overnight option at the UA campus.
This summer 145 students attended the camps, the largest number of campers in the program’s history. Ninety-eight students attended the Fayetteville camp, compared to 80 students last summer.
The 2019 Design Camp will have more changes after the record attendance this year; the Fayetteville camp will offer two weeklong sessions, and another camp will be added at a fifth location Alison Turner, the Director of Community Education and Clinical Assistant Professor of Architecture, said
“We are already planning for next summer and will add two more camps – a second camp in Fayetteville and a new camp in El Dorado,” Turner said.
Camps are located in Fayetteville, Hot Springs, Little Rock and Wilson, with Fayetteville being the only overnight camp.