After eight magical summers, Nature Art Camp is taking a pause.

What began as a simple idea between friends grew into something truly special. For eight years, my dear friend, early childhood specialist, Anna Diem and I have shared our love of ecology, art, curiosity, play, and Anna's AMAZING repertoire of camp songs, with hundreds of children in our community. Together with the campers, we explored animals, elements, senses, and habitats, made beautiful messes, ran experiments, sang loudly, created collaborative art, and celebrated the wonder of the natural world.

We started these camps when our own children were small enough to attend, and over the years we’ve had the joy of watching them—and so many other kids—grow up returning summer after summer. Those memories are some of our most treasured.

Now, with just a few summers left before our own kids begin to spread their wings, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause Nature Art Camp for a while so we can soak up these last summers with our own fledglings.

This program has always been a true labor of love, and we are deeply grateful for the families who trusted us with their children, the laughter and creativity we shared, and the beautiful community that grew around these camps.

While Nature Art Camp is resting for now, the spirit of the camp lives on in my year-round art classes at the Mt. Hood Town Hall. Many of the same kinds of projects, nature connections, and playful creativity show up in those gatherings (and sometimes even a camp song or two).

We feel fairly certain this isn’t the end of the story—just a pause.

Thank you for eight incredible summers of muddy hands, joyful creativity, and shared wonder. 🌿

If you’d like to stay connected or learn about upcoming classes, head on over to my classes page.