The Bauen Camp – Parkman, WY
1999 to 2010

Jessica Holt founded the Bauen Camp on 70 acres in the foothills of Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountains in 1999 while she was working on her philosophy thesis. Inspired by her own life in the mountains, her experience at camp as a youth, and The Bauen Camp – “Bau” means to build or nurture in German – aims to empower disenfranchised youth to become civic change agents in their communities, teaching them how the arts can be used to build social creativity and responsibility. Working with a network of more than 80 local youth organizations and schools in urban and rural locations including five focal areas – Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, and the State of Wyoming – 40 to 60 underserved youth were chosen to attend the camp each summer, a dozen or so young artists who pay their own way, and artist-counselors.

Visiting artists  – leaders in the fields of painting, theater, story-telling, poetry, dance, sculpture and puppetry – facilitated each session. Victor Ochoa, Chicano Mural Park founder; Richard Owen Geer, Community Performance International; John Malpede, The Real Deal Documentary; Clara Waloff, El Puente Academy for Peace & Justice; were a few of the many artists at Bauen. The three-week experience was focused on each student developing a community project to be pursued when she or he returned home. In their communities, Bauen Camp participants were linked with mentors and others in an alumni network. During it’s tenure, the camp has served more than 250 youth. The camp was featured in the national publication for the American Camping Association (ACA) in 2008. The article, among other documentations created by campers and visiting artists, tells the story of Bauen.