Camp Taliesin angles kids on ‘Wright’ path

Abbie Wilson, education manager and Jenna Green, senior museum educator, work for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)  

Abbie Wilson had just landed a dream job in December 2020 with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, where she would get to work at the famous architect’s winter home, Taliesin West.

As excited as she was about her job, she was confronted with the tall task of creating one of the most exciting young engineering and architecture camps in the Valley under the veil of the pandemic. 

Wilson’s most daunting task was devising an online version of Camp Taliesin West for kids that captured the same fun and creativity that the camp conventionally offers. 

She was able to find a way to utilize google classroom to provide instructions on how to create crafts, partake in activities and ask all the questions they wanted. 

While the in-person camp proceeded with patrons masked up indoors, the online camp became a sensation as kids from countries like Puerto Rico and Ecuador signed up for the closest visit possible to Wright’s winter quarters that a screen could offer. 

The online camp was such a hit that this year’s camp will be offered in-person with no restrictions as well as virtually again. 

“In light of everything that has happened over the last couple of years, my big belief is that kids need to do hands-on things,” Wilson, who currently operates as the education manager for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation said. 

Because of this, each summer camp will kick off with an expansive tour of the campus’ historic areas where kids are wowed by the buildings’ unique geometry and the combinations of shapes the facility’s furniture displays. 

One stop on the tour wows students virtually and in person. 

“They love seeing the garden room, which is Frank Lloyd Wright’s living room, and I think that’s true for both kiddos on-site and over zoom,” Wilson said. “When they see it, all of a sudden, he becomes a real person with a family who had a living room and not just a historic figure. Then also seeing the historic furniture makes it more real to them.” 

After the tour, the students are introduced to the theme of the camp and delve into their instruction and activities. 

“We have one entire camp that’s interior-design based. …We show them a lot of furniture and textiles and stuff like that,” Wilson said. “Whereas when it’s more of the architecture kind of camp, we talk more about form and layouts, and stuff like that.” 

However, most camps culminate in the kids creating grand models out of recycled materials. 

“Some of the projects that we’re hoping to do for this year are based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs and some of his types of activities,” said Jenna Green, Taliesin West senior museum education manager.

“Being able to bring their drawings, whether they’re in full scale, or just kind of more of a sketch design to the 3D space and being able to build the models,” Green said. “Oftentimes letting students decorate them is probably one of the biggest highlights for them.” 

Although the students are given a creative range with their designs, they are also taught about skills like scale – a math-intensive skill – while using tools that actual architects use to create models like Exacto knives, hot glue guns and foam core. 

Although these tasks may seem rigorous, the goal is to help the kids explore the various careers that exist within the architecture and engineering fields. 

“Teaching kids about design, whether that is architectural design, interior design or just artistic design, about the math, the science and the art that goes into the design and then about the careers that they could explore through those things,” Wilson said.

“I think it just opens up a whole world for them that maybe they didn’t think about before because they were unfamiliar with all these concepts.”

Camp Taliesin West will host five camps this summer discussing topics like city design, interior design, architecture and photography. 

No matter which class kids gravitate towards, Wilson is eager to welcome kids back to Taliesin West this summer. 

“People are just so happy to have the in-person option available for their kiddos,”  Wilson said. “It’s been a rough couple of years for kids and they’re eager to do real things in real life with friends and new friends and old friends.”

Sponsored Content