USDAN MUSING: LESSONS LEARNED THIS SUMMER

Dear Usdan community,

It’s been an unusual summer. On campus, the woodpeckers and jays provided all the music, the clouds painted the skies, and the sassafras did all the dancing. Yet, in my heart I believe that besides our opening season of 1968, 2020 may have been one of Usdan’s most important summers.

As we wrap up Usdan’s summer program this week, let’s use this space to focus on the positive and share what we learned.

We have a renewed sense of purpose promoting creativity, equity, sustainability, and this community’s health and safety.
Creativity has been one the best medicines during the pandemic.
Our research is far from formal, but dozens of conversations with community members have taught us that those who are engaging creatively, whether through art or new projects in any form, are the most satisfied people right now.
It was time for a new time.
We are not afraid of the unknown because the future holds tremendous potential for necessary change.
This community deserves praise.
The love of the parents and caregivers for their children, the respect of this community for others, the passion of the faculty and children to create no matter the constraints, the community’s deep ethical belief in equity, the dedication of the supporters to invest in young people’s creativity: these qualities were here last summer and the summers prior, but this summer these qualities skyrocketed.
It is time to participate, and many of us want to be part of change.
We are thousands of families and tens of thousands of alumni who live, work, and study throughout this region, from the Bronx to Brooklyn to the eastern portion of Long Island. This passionate network is a powerful tool for regional growth.
We used to only be a camp; now we aim to act like a cultural organization too.
We used to only create programs for the children; now we also think about experiences for our alumni, supporters, parents and caregivers, and neighbors. We used to only appear in the summer; now we will be active in all seasons. We used to only design in-person experiences; now we program virtual ones. We used to only think in terms of courses; now we also think in terms of events, workshops, artistic productions, and informal experiences.

Look how much good came out of these months. As one of our mom's Rebecca Wotman wrote to me this week: “That was some fine lemonade produced in the wake of all of our lemons!”

If you want to sip some lemonade and have not yet, please enjoy below some of Usdan Happy Hours Summer 2020. The event celebrated student creativity in our online studios this summer and also included some of our most beloved traditions. It was an afternoon of Usdan-love, creativity, and festivity.

Sincerely,

Lauren Brandt Schloss, Executive Director

"It really changed her summer from one that felt endless and meaningless to one she will never forget."
- Usdan Online Parent

"I really enjoyed it even though I missed the overall experience of going to Usdan ... I learned a lot and I think it was really helpful to me and other people to stay busy and creative during quarantine."
- Usdan Online Student