Tag Archive: Youth Leadership


This past weekend I had the pleasure of instructing a visual arts track at Upham Woods to about 60 4-H members that are in grades 3rd-5th grade.  In honor of the 75th Anniversary of Upham Woods and the Upham Sisters that donated the 315 acres of land to the UW Extension to preserve the land as an educational format  so future generations of children  so they could experience nature and learn through the Wisconsin State and County 4-H programs.   The visual art track offered information about Elizabeth and Caroline Upham and explained why the metal sculptures related to Elizabeth Uphams artistic talents creating with metals and the stone slabs that the campers used as a base is connected with Caroline Upham because of her and her fathers expertise in geology.  The photographs I’m posting today depict a fraction of the activities, experiences and artwork created by our guest campers attending the 2016 4-H Art Beat 4-H Camp Program  this past  weekend.

Thank you to the parents and campers that had taken the time to write a thank you letter to the Upham family members for their donation of property and their continued support to Upham Woods.  If you would like to write a thank you letter please contact me.  There is still time to write a thank you letter to the Upham family members.

Wisconsin 4-H 100th Anniversary

Happy Anniversary

4-H youth – 3rd through 6th graders attended the 2014 Wisconsin State 4-H Art Beat Camp at Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center on March 14 and 15th. About 75 campers attended the arts camp to learn about the history of bead making and how to make paper and polymer beads. An exciting drama track instructed by Elizabeth Kirsten andJanine Lynaugh offered campers a chance to learn some theater warm up games and explore creating skits, while the visual arts track instructed by Susan Kloch Wendlandt offered campers an opportunity to create colorful wax paintings by melting crayons using hair dryers. This session also offered campers an in depth understanding of the life of Elizabeth Upham and the Upham family (the family that donated 310 acres of property (which includes Blackhawk Island) to the UW Extension -to what we know today as asCamp Upham Woods. A fantastic photography track was instructed by Lizzy Farrey, while Bridget Fish and Hailey Fishinstructed an energetic and fun filled session teaching campers the skills of juggling and how to make juggling balls. Christina Rencontre UW-Extension (our beloved Communication Specialist made sure everyone had supplies, and oversaw the camp registration and health forms as well making sure the camp was running smoothly! Oh! She also does so much more!!!! And lets not forget the camp-fire songs and activities…including a new Art Beat Cheer was introduced as well as a presentation offered by Catherine, the naturalist at Upham Woods.ImageImageImageImageImage
 
 
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  1. 4-H youth – 3rd through 6th graders attended the 2014 Wisconsin State 4-H Art Beat Camp at Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center on March 14 and 15th. About 75 campers attended the arts camp to learn about the history of bead making and how to make paper and polymer beads. An exciting drama track instructed by Elizabeth Kirsten and Janine Lynaugh offered campers a chance to learn some theater warm up games and explore creating skits, while the visual arts track instructed by Susan Kloch Wendlandt offered campers an opportunity to create colorful wax paintings by melting crayons using hair dryers. This session also offered campers an in depth understanding of the life of Elizabeth Upham and the Upham family (the family that donated 310 acres of property (which includes Blackhawk Island) to the UW Extension -to what we know today as asCamp Upham Woods. A fantastic photography track was instructed by Lizzy Farrey, while Bridget Fish and Hailey Fish instructed an energetic and fun filled session teaching campers the skills of juggling and how to make juggling balls. Christina Rencontre UW-Extension (our beloved Communication Specialist made sure everyone had supplies, and oversaw the camp registration and health forms as well making sure the camp was running smoothly! Oh! She also does so much more!!!! And lets not forget the camp-fire songs and activities…including a new Art Beat Cheer was introduced as well as a presentation offered by Catherine, the naturalist at Upham Woods.
     
     
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4-H Arts Lab

4-H Arts Lab

From altered books , collage and printmaking,anything goes at Wisconsin State 4-H Arts Camps !

In the past five to seven years my daughter Katherine and I have individually donated over 3,000 hours of our time devoted to developing, mentoring, organizing, promoting and instructing at Wisconsin 4-H State Arts Camps, 4-H Art Teams preparing for 4-H State Youth Leadership Conference and Wisconsin State Fairs.
I strongly feel that as a professional artist it my duty to share my love of art through an educational format. I’ve been involved in the 4-H program since 1966, when I was living in Chicago Ill. and I’ve been dedicated to the 4-H Organization ever since that time.

This video is a collective of visual memories from the 2013 Wisconsin State 4-H ARTS TEAMS Planning weekend held at Upham Woods, located near Wisconsin Dells. The state 4-H teams represented in this video are Art Team, Press Team, Showcase Singers and Drama Company. The members of these teams gather together every April are comprised of over 100 youth that live throughout Wisconsin. Every June we gather together to create, art instillation’s and exhibit, photographic, musical and theater performances presented to 600 to 1000 4-H youth delegates at the state 4-h Youth Leadership Conference in Madison. The theme for the 2012 Youth Leadership Conference was “Exploring The Possibilities”