A Life Unafraid

BY TINA V. BRYSON

When at Camp AJ, they call her Tink, like the fairy from Peter Pan’s magical story. Unlike the fictional character, Marjorie Conkwright knows that all children must grow up, and she is striving to give each one the chance to spread their wings and fly while they are still young. Conkwright is serving as a oneyear volunteer and AmeriCorps member through Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Camp AJ in Jackson County, Kentucky. There, she primarily teaches art in the summer. Long-term camp volunteers at CAP also provide much needed in-school support for our local school districts during the academic year. During camp’s offseason, Conkwright assists with math and arts education at Sand Gap Elementary School.

“That first summer was terrifying and yet one of the greatest adventures of my life,” said Conkwright, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky. “I learned that I love silly, repeat-afterme songs, camp magic, smores, and the light of pure joy that shines through over 500 pairs of eyes shown unconditional, unending fierce love of camp staff and counselors.” Conkwright, and her husband Charles, came to Camp AJ in 2018 just after she finished her master’s degree in nonprofit leadership and community development at Eastern Kentucky University.

“That first summer was full of magical small moments found in hiking with new friends, random gifts of avocados, and God’s splendor seen in glorious sunrises and sunsets. My most treasured moments that I hold close to my heart were unexpected explosions of joy found in creativity that led a camper to an impromptu dance with a paintbrush in seeming abandon to everything but happiness. Just before that was a time of frustration in the process of crafting, but personal perseverance led to a great accomplishment and pride. I will also never forget a simple thank you from a teenager that had never had a chance to paint before.”

Michael O’Brien, coordinator at Camp AJ, had spent time the previous year connecting to Steven Davis-Rosenbaum with Berea College’s Craft Education Center and Outreach Program. The addition of a skilled artist in Conkwright enabled Camp AJ to grow this partnership with Berea College in a way that will celebrate the Appalachian heritage of the region with students.

“I came to Camp AJ with a great love for Appalachian crafts and tradition,” Conkwright said. “I also know that cultural heritage can be lost to future generations if they are not shown the importance and beauty of those traditions. Last summer, I was able to be trained in the traditional manner of broom making and I was immediately able to use that training with the older campers.”

We create because we were created by a great and loving God. I want each child to treasure their creations as gifts just as they are a gift, fearfully and wonderfully made.

--MARJORIE CONKWRIGHT

Camp staff and volunteers also took the teen campers on a field trip to Berea College to participate in a copper stamping craft session that culminated with a beautiful patina keychain or necklace. The teens were also able to tour the craft education studios and workshops and eat at the cafeteria on campus. The trip provided an opportunity to participate in a program on campus and help them imagine the opportunities that are there for them after graduating from high school.

Conkwright takes the creativity of her summer position with her to Sand Gap Elementary School where she assists third, fourth, and fifth graders mainly with math. She has also been developing a visual arts curriculum for Grades K-5 in a rotating schedule that allows students to be exposed to different art materials and techniques.

“Sand Gap is like many elementary schools that do not have a dedicated arts teacher,” said Conkwright, whose life was shaped by an amazing high school art teacher who started her on the path to becoming a professional artist. “I am excited to have this opportunity to give a little exposure to ideas, materials, and art history to the students. Everyone needs an opportunity to explore their creative side. I hope I can inspire my students to see the beauty and great cultural heritage of the home we call Appalachia. To see that it is so much more than making a broom, basket, or bowl, it is a deep and abiding beauty of spirit and soul forged from hardship and necessity.

A young camper learns to weave. Marjorie Conkwright, a professional artist serving as a one-year volunteer and AmeriCorps member, has brought her love of Appalachian crafts to Camp AJ.

We need to understand why we create more than what we create. We create because we were created by a great and loving God. I want each child to treasure their creations as gifts just as they are a gift, fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Conkwright was excited to extend CAP’s reach by working with the Sand Gap Artsy Tigers, an afterschool arts program led by Lisa Young that meets once a week. Conkwright has started teaching a unit on clay vessels. The bowls the children make will be fired in kilns at Berea College and returned to the students at Sand Gap.

“One day I was helping a student construct a bowl and he excitedly told me that this was going to be his cereal bowl,” Conkwright recalled. “He told me that he didn’t have a cereal bowl at home and was eating his cereal out of a cup; but now he had his own bowl just for cereal. His excitement and joy in the creative process, his pride in his accomplishment of creation will stay with me. I want to leave them with that: a life unafraid to embrace creativity and imagination.”

Maybe, just maybe, that nickname, Tink, does fit Marjorie Conkwright just fine. If you look closely, you may see a little pixie dust around the classrooms and halls of Sand Gap Elementary or in the dining hall and craft room at Camp AJ. Yes, Tink could fly, but sharing her pixie dust so others could fly, that was her greatest gift. n