Spotlight! Chatham County Arts Council Connects Campers with Art at Camp Royall

This is the first in a nine-part series spotlighting the Chatham County Arts Council’s Grassroots Grant recipients for 2014.    The Grassroots Grant Program allows the Chatham County Arts Council to work with our own community members to determine where artists and arts funding can make the greatest impact locally.

 Here’s something you might not know your arts council is doing:  The Chatham County Arts Council is impacting the lives of autistic children via our Grassroots Grants Program!  The Autism Society of North Carolina, a grant recipient this year, will use its grant dollars to pay local artists to work with kids at this year’s Camp Royall.

And if you don’t know about Camp Royall:  it’s amazing.  Its 133-acre facility in Moncure, houses the nation’s oldest and largest summer camp program for people on the autism spectrum.  They also provide year-round activities like afterschool programs and opportunities for community members to share their time and expertise with campers.

We sat down with Camp Royall’s Program Director, the fabulous Sara Gage, to pick her brain about Camp Royall, the arts, and life in Chatham County.   Here’s what she had to say about…

…the importance of the arts in Camp Royall’s programming: “Priceless.  Communication can be difficult for those with autism, and art allows campers to express themselves through diverse outlets, giving them options to communicate in their own unique ways.”

…in an ideal world:  “Camp Royall would be putting on programming for autism every day with more resources and the ability to expand services.”

…life in Chatham County: “It’s a welcoming and neat place to be with an emphasis on community and a great music scene.”

…artists she’s worked with:  “Generous.   Dedicated.  Inspiring.”

Check out the Camp Royall website to learn more about this Chatham County gem.

The Grassroots Arts Program is offered by Chatham County Arts Council through the generous assistance of the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.