SchoolWorks Lab Retreat at Cragged Mountain Farm in Freedom, NH
August 16-20, 2010

Two hours north of Boston in the New Hampshire White Mountains lies a gem, Cragged Mountain Farm, an “old-school” summer camp full of rustic cabins that will host artists and educators for a one-week camp retreat. Participants will have time to take their pioneering art experiences and transform them into new thinking that can be used to sustain arts Partnerships in schools. This retreat offers participants, aka campers, the opportunity to live, eat and develop new thinking and new stories about arts integration.

Transforming Arts In Education Thinking
There is a need in the Arts in Education field to take our pioneering work and transform it into new thinking in new stories that can help our society. In recent years, teachers and teaching artists have partnered together to integrate the arts into other core courses and have personally witnessed growth in student learning. There is now a need to translate those ideas about growth in student learning into new stories, new types of data and new ways for stating results so that others can learn from these new stories.

Process of Transformation
The process of transformation that will be used is to retreat from mainstream society, re-connect with natural beauty, and to create art in nature. Although the camp is a reminder of that society, it is very close to not interrupting the artist-nature connection. The result of such a retreat is to discuss art and to try out new thinking about art.  

Retreat Agenda
The agenda for the week’s camp retreat will therefore be to live and breathe art and translate your new thinking, transform the work you bring and translate the growth you see into new stories for a wide variety of audiences. This will include helping participants think through documentating our work. What kinds of documentation about student growth yield the most informative information? How does one refine documentation into a set of results? Is it even possible to translate results into findings and conclusions? And if possible to touch the heart of student learning, how would we transform our new ideas into new stories for a new era in arts in education?

Camp Host
Rob Southworth, president of The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc., a non-profit organization, will host this wonderful week. Rob will lead the retreat by talking his way in and around your interests and can be found either in the kitchen, playing guitar, or throwing a frisbee.

The Setting for Our Retreat
Cragged Mountain Farm is a legendary summer camp in Freedom, New Hampshire, started by Dr. Henry Utter in 1927 as a fresh-air camp for inner-city children from Providence, RI. Over the years, hundreds of children and adults have found that a summer spent camping, canoeing, swimming and hiking at Cragged in the fresh mountain air, having fun with friends, and exploring the mountains and rivers of northern New England is a priceless experience. The camp is still run by the Utter family each summer for four weeks in July. The sounds of laughter, play and music are all part of camp life at Cragged as children explore new things, live with their friends, make decisions independently and truly Discover themselves.

Daily Schedule
The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc. has been offered a week in August ­­to host this unique retreat – the best time of year to be there! The daily schedule will be guided by participants conversation and thinking about your pioneering art experiences. You can let yourself react and implement as you see fit. The farm and camp cabins serve as our meeting place for crossing destinies—a peaceful, outdoor refuge. Each morning, the farmhouse will be our central gathering place for food and talk. We’ll wake up, eat breakfast, meet with others, create art together, or set out on hikes to the tops of the wooded hills surrounding the farm. In the afternoon, we’ll drive to our private bathhouses on Loon Lake offering a tranquil nap, a refreshing swim or sunbathing on the dock. After dinner, we’ll head over to the playhouse to chat, plan skits, or play music while a fire roars in the massive stone fireplace with old canoes hanging overhead in the rafters.

Lodging and Fees
There are twelve cabins with bunks and mattresses that can sleep 4-6 per cabin. The cabins are rustic and have no heat, electricity or linens. Cell phone and computer access is limited. The farmhouse, playhouse, infirmary and communal bathrooms all have running water (showers) and lights. If rustic sleeping accommodations are not your cup of tea, there are local B&B’s nearby. Camp can comfortably accommodate 40-50 campers, but we must have a minimum of 30 participants to hold the retreat.

The cost of camp for five days and nights, room and board, is $385. A deposit of $50 is required to reserve your spot and is payable by check. In order for us to plan and hire the correct number of staff, our deadline for registration with your payment in full for the entire amount is due, June 4th. Fees include home cooked meals, snacks, housing, program materials, camp t-shirt and all activities. Optional expenses include laundry service and a camp canteen. Tipping staff is NOT permitted, whereas tipping your hand to camp participants is always welcome!

Our camp retreat is in session Monday through Saturday, August 16-21st. There will be an early departure from camp on Saturday, August 21st. 

Take advantage of our Early Bird Registration, and save $50 per person off the Standard registration rate! The Early Bird Deadline is Wednesday, May 5th.

To register, or for more information, contact Rob Southworth at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please include the phase, Cragged Arts Camp, in the subject line.