Hunter Museum of American Art

It’s that time of year again; my office is filing up with newspaper, cardboard, cans, water bottles and other items that would have most people running to the recycling center before it reached this magnitude. I am “most people” during most of the year, but in early spring I set my sights on my office ceiling; building towers of what some might call trash, but I refer to as “opportunities for creativity.”

The Museum's staff knows the drill too. They get the “camp needs list” in the spring and have never let me down with their willingness to hoard random objects and materials for summer camp. Most don’t even ask what the materials are for anymore because it’s always different and the water bottles and shoeboxes become unrecognizable by the time they are on display in summer camp art shows.

As much as I hate clutter, I love this time of year. The Museum’s spaces come alive with color, sound, joy, and discovery. Every year summer camp instructors raise the bar ever higher in their quest to make the Museum a place of endless possibility and campers discover their new interests and self expression. Best of all… I get to banish the clutter from my office for another year!

Our campers have made all kinds of amazing things from toilet paper rolls. Your assignment: what potential do you see in a toilet paper or paper towel roll?

Erin Noseworthy Manager of Multimedia Interpretive Programs