Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts

Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts
Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts Logo
Type Not-for-profit Arts Camp
Location Wheatley Heights (Town of Babylon) Long Island, NY
Founded 1968
Executive Director Ms. Lauren Brandt Schloss
Campus 70 Studios and Theaters on 200 acres (0.81 km2)
Mission Statement Usdan is a summer arts camp that provides an educational setting for children to develop artistic skills, regardless of their level of talent. Guided by a professional faculty, students participate in public performances and exhibits that reflect the high standards sought by their teachers and conductors. The goal is for them to leave Usdan with the arts as a lifetime companion. The camp's philosophy is reflected in Suzanne Usdan's inspirational message: "Lose yourself for a summer. Find yourself for a lifetime."
Website www.usdan.org

Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts (often referred to as "Usdan") is a not-for-profit summer arts camp situated on 200 woodland acres (0.81 km2) in Wheatley Heights, Long Island, NY. Usdan opened in 1968 and now enrolls 1,600 students ages 4–18. Usdan has been declared a “Best Of” camp by TimeOutNY/Kids, and by NY Metro Parents. The Center has been profiled in the New York Times, Time Magazine, and in numerous print and online publications. Usdan's 40,000 alumni include actresses Natalie Portman, Jackie Hoffman, Olivia Thirlby, Stacey London, and Lisa Gay Hamilton; singers Jane Monheit, Taylor Dayne, and Mariah Carey; Tony-Award nominated playwright Michele Lowe, Grammy-Award winning producer Adam Abeshouse, Broadway personality Seth Rudetsky, Juilliard conductor Adam Glaser, and members of major American orchestras, dance and theater companies. The camp is named for the daughter of the late philanthropist Samuel Lemberg.

Usdan was established to provide children with the arts as a companion for life through great teaching and the camaraderie of fellow students whose bond is their love of the arts. The Center features more than 40 programs of study. The Music Department offers orchestra, band, chorus, guitar, chamber music, jazz ensemble, and piano. The Dance Department offers ballet, jazz, and tap dance, hip hop, and beginning combination dance. The Theater Department offers Repertory Theater, musical theater, technical theater, drama, theater adventure, and introduction to musical theater. The Visual Arts Department offers painting, ceramics, sculpture, metalsmithing, photography, filmmaking, sewing and fashion design, comic art, video game art and design and animation. Other majors include creative writing, chess, nature and ecology, and organic gardening. A special feature of each student’s program is attendance at the camp's series of daily assemblies known as the Festival Concerts. These are performances by distinguished artists and by Usdan students as well. World famous artists who have appeared on this series include Andre Watts, Yo-Yo Ma, The King's Singers, Earl Wild, Ruggiero Ricci, James Galway, Canadian Brass, Tokyo String Quartet, Emanuel Ax. Jazz artists have included Jimmy Heath, Marian McPartland, Billy Taylor, Randy Brecker, Bobby Watson, and Jane Monheit. Dance companies include New York City Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, the José Limón Dance Company. Cast members from current Broadway shows perform on this series, and many also work with students as visiting master teachers.

The camp is divided into four divisions based on grade level: Discovery – Grade Pre-K, K and 1; Partners in the Arts – Grades 2 and 3; Junior – Grade 4 through 6; Senior – Grade 7 through 12. Students have a choice of classes from the following disciplines: Music, Art, Theater, Dance, Writing, Chess, Nature and Ecology, Organic Gardening. Students choose a "major" class that meets for two fifty-minute periods daily, and they also have a "minor" that meets for one period daily. Students also have one recreational period daily. The camp enrolls students for 3, 4, or 7 weeks.

Usdan’s modern campus includes 70 award-winning studios and theaters, including the campus centerpiece, the Andrew and Lily McKinley Amphitheater, a 1,000-seat state of the art theater for the camp's daily artist and student concerts. Other signature buildings include the Samuel and Lucille Lemberg Drama Center, with three theaters, six teaching studios, and costume and set shops. The Block Media Arts Center contains broadcast quality production studios. The Maurice B. Hexter Center is a recital hall and conference center that also houses Usdan's chess program. Art students exhibit the work in the Goetz and Hexter galleries. Usdan is a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation of New York, and the camp is chartered by the Regents of the State of New York.

History

Usdan Logo

In 1968, one thousand New York-area children arrived at the newly created Usdan (Formally Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts) to pursue their love of the arts or talent no matter their level of experience. This extraordinary inaugural enrollment was testimony to the vision and dedication of the camp's founders. They included artists, educators, and communal leaders. Usdan was established under the aegis of Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (now UJA-Federation of New York) then headed by Dr. Maurice B. Hexter. Graenum Berger, Dr. Hexter's colleague, brought the concept to Federation following a trip with Andrew McKinley to Interlochen in 1951. Here Dr. Berger saw the possibility of a comprehensive not-for-profit arts camp for children living in the New York metropolitan area. He embraced the concept of arts education in a camp setting, and enlisted the partnership of a great philanthropist, Samuel Lemberg. Mr. Lemberg provided the initial donations to establish the camp. To honor his extraordinary generosity, Usdan was named for his beloved daughter, Suzanne Usdan.

Arts educators created the educational and artistic plan for Usdan. The camp's founding Executive Director, Andrew McKinley, was a concert artist, a member of the Juilliard faculty, and a renowned opera singer. Usdan's Educational Coordinator and longtime Board President, Dr. Jerrold Ross, then Chairman of the Department of Music Education at New York University, worked with Mr. McKinley to establish the high artistic and educational standards for which Usdan is known. Together with Mrs. Usdan, Dr. Hexter, and Mr. Lemberg, a Board of Trustees was established, and Mr. McKinley assembled a faculty of prominent artists and teachers from the country’s leading conservatories and universities. In 1983, following 16 years as Director of the camp, Andrew McKinley retired. The Board appointed Dale Lewis to become his successor, and Mr. Lewis served as Usdan’s Executive Director until 2015. Dr. Ross was the Board's longest serving President (1968–2004). In recent years he has collaborated with Mr. Lewis to expand the camp's curriculum. In 2006 Dr. Ross was honored by his Board colleagues with the naming of the Jerrold Ross Discovery Center, Usdan's campus center for early childhood arts education.

Usdan's original curriculum of music, art, dance, and theater has expanded into additional fields of study in the arts. The program now includes recently added courses in writing, jazz studies, video arts, video game design, jazz and tap dance, chamber music, nature and ecology, organic gardening, sewing and fashion design, comic art, animation, classical guitar, and chess. Newer elective classes include life drawing, actor’s craft, and tennis. During the past ten years, Usdan has launched programs for beginners as well. Discovery is an arts exploration experience for children in Pre-K, Kindergarten and first grade.

In addition to its primary programs for children, Usdan also sponsors professional development programs for arts educators. Lifetime learning is another programmatic theme at Usdan, and these programs include alumni study days, lecture and concert workshops for adults, and a popular summertime event for adults known as Usdan University. Usdan’s professional staff provides collaborative programs with schools on Long Island in New York City, and the camp hosts training events for young professionals in the arts, and for community events such as the Long Island Envirothon.

Usdan's leadership includes its Board of Trustees and a Leadership Council of Long Island community, philanthropic, and business leaders, both under the direction of the camp's President, John Usdan, son of the camp's namesake. 2013 was Dale Lewis's 30th year as Executive Director. In 2015, Mr.Lewis retired and Lauren Brandt Schloss became the center's 3rd Executive Director.

Usdan's Mission: Usdan Center is a summer arts school that provides an educational setting for children to develop artistic skills, regardless of their level of talent. Children acquire and develop these skills under the guidance of a professional faculty and they participate in public performances and exhibits that reflect the high standards sought by their teachers and conductors. While studying at Usdan, children discover new abilities and talents and they form lifetime friendships with those who share their love of the arts. The goal is for them to leave Usdan with the arts as a lifetime companion. The camp's philosophy is reflected in Suzanne Usdan's inspirational message: "Lose yourself for a summer. Find yourself for a lifetime." [1]

Departments

Music

The music program includes both instruction and performance. Faculty members come from the finest conservatories and include leading freelance musicians and concert artists. They teach with love and aim for the highest standards possible.

Majors

Minors

Art

Art majors choose one discipline to explore in depth. Students work in studios designed for their medium and learn from working artists who are specialists in their fields. Studios feature large skylights as well as indoor and outdoor courtyards to take advantage of natural light and the inspiration of nature.

Majors

Minors

Theater

The Lemberg Drama Center houses an indoor air-conditioned theater, 2 outdoor amphitheaters, rehearsal studios, and costume and set shops. This extraordinary complex is the site of classes for students who participate in a program designed to increase acting skills, as well as offer performances in the Center’s theaters. Among the recent productions were Doctor Dolittle, Mary Poppins, and 70, Girls, 70.[4]

Majors

[5]

Minor

Dance

Dancers study technique, classic repertory and original choreography with New York City's nationally renowned dancers and choreographers. Instruction is rigorous but caring, and studios are spacious, with soft floors and generous skylights that give them an open-air effect.

Majors

Minors

[6]

Chess

Usdan's instructional and competitive Chess program is available as a major or a minor. With class time split between instruction and tournament play, students at all levels develop skills to enhance their enjoyment of the game.[7]

Major and Minor

Writing

Small groups of creative writing students engage the forms of poetry, short fiction and playwriting in covered, open-air studios. The program culminates in the publication of Usdan's literary magazine, a multidisciplinary publication which includes student-produced poetry and writing.

Major

Minor

Nature

Usdan's magnificent forest provides the setting to study Long Island's natural ecosystems. Focuses are on hands-on projects, including garden and forest exploration, and the art of nature, as studied in science and craft.

Majors

Minors

Discovery Program

Discovery is a unique program of summer fun and exploration in the arts for students currently in Pre-K, Kindergarten or First Grade. Children are placed into groups of 10–12, each with a college-age counselor who guides them throughout the day. The Discovery program is situated in the woodland setting of Usdan’s newest building, the state-of-the-art Ross Discovery Center. Daily activities are drawn from a curriculum that includes chorus, painting & ceramics, swim, and personal journal writing. Discovery classes are fun explorations in the arts that offer an introduction to the exciting world of Usdan’s varied programs in music, art, theater, and dance.[11]

Partners in the Arts

Students in the Partners program are taken from class to class by a Counselor in Training (CIT), one who will guide them around Usdan's beautiful campus. They choose a Major Interest and a Minor Interest activity, just as Usdan's older students do. CIT’s meet their partners at the bus field each morning, and then take them to class throughout the day.[12]

External links

References

  1. ↑ "A History of the Usdan Center". Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  2. ↑ "Classes Offered". Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  3. ↑ "Art Program". Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  4. ↑ "Theater Program". Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  5. ↑ "Classes Offered". Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  6. ↑ "Classes Offered". Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  7. ↑ "Usdan Brochure". Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  8. ↑ "Chess Program". Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  9. ↑ "Writing Program". Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  10. ↑ "Classes Offered". Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  11. ↑ "Discovery Program". Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  12. ↑ "Classes Offered". Retrieved 2012-12-12.

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