SUMMER PROGRAMS by Pete Smith ’74 Director of Summer Programs Over 15 years ago, Buxton’s Board of Trustees and then-newly-established director of development, Doe Zottoli, began to glimpse the opportunities that our beautiful campus could offer when school was out of session. Since then, the use of our facilities in the summer has seen a number of different and developing iterations: full-on residencies and retreats; day programs in the arts and sciences for local kids; and weddings. Summer Programs 2021 had all of the above. Historically, during the summer months at Buxton, it was deemed important that there be a continued sense of home for those on the faculty and staff who fully resided in the dormitories and in the smaller domiciles that dotted the campus. We wanted to be sure that we were being attentive to preserving the serenity of those months as a refuge from an arduous and immersive school year. But with the recognition that the school could benefit from diversifying its potential revenue streams and the reality that Buxton’s property sat largely idle outside of the academic calendar, Summer Programs was fully launched. We haven’t looked back. 14
We started small, but have built loyal clientele. Doe was the first to engage Overland, a local adventure and travel program for teenagers, to use our campus during their leader training, and they have been with us ever since. For well over a decade, their leaders have camped, dined, and held their orientation during the last two weeks in June on Buxton’s campus. In past years, Artsbridge has taken up residency here, a Boston-based arts program that brings Israeli and Arab teenagers together to make art in order to address conflict and build alliances. We have also hosted the New England Puppetry Workshop, a residency in puppet-making and performance for adults, administered by local artist David Lane. David is also parent to Sophie Lane ’19.
we had also made some headway with a promising collaboration with the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, NY. Hayground is a progressive elementary and middle school co-founded by alumnus and board member Arjun Achuthan ’86 that has a vigorous gardening and food-preparation curriculum. The goal was to create a residential program for “graduates” of their summer program to continue to hone their culinary and farm-to-table skills in a residential setting, while also enjoying some of the more traditional offerings of summer camp. Alas, due to the pandemic, none of these innovations were realized and summer 2021 still felt too soon to put any of them into place. Here’s to actualizing these programs in future years!
For summer 2020, we had some new and ambitious residential programming in place. For adults, we had activated the engagement of children’s book illustrator and author Duncan Tonatiuh ’03 for The Art of the Picture Book, and local artists George Van Hook and Tony Conner for plein air and watercolor painting workshops. For young teenagers,
In summer 2021, however, we did manage to host two other residences. One was with Bais Chana Women International (informally, the self-named Jewish Uncamp), a three-week program for high-school and college-aged girls and women. The kitchen was made fully
