Omanut: Creativity and a “Chill” Atmosphere

This year, Omanut (Arts & Crafts) takes place in its usual home – a large building with multiple stations and several separate rooms – and four nearby large tents. Visitors often notice how peaceful and “chill” the atmosphere is in these spaces. The chanichim (campers) are often very absorbed in their projects. Many find it a relaxing break from other, more active pursuits at camp.

As always, there are numerous Omanut chuggim (electives) to choose from. This month alone, chanichim could choose from a wide variety of techniques and media: Ceramics, Pinterest, Camp Crafts, Fabric Arts, Jewelry-Making, Photography and Video. The chuggim meet every day for two weeks, providing chanichim with the opportunity to engage in multi-step, multi-day projects with exquisite results.

This summer, chanichim also come to Omanut with their edot. The chanichim are given the choice of several projects with varied mediums that could be completed in one session. This provides chanichim who might not choose an Omanut chug some exposure to art at camp. The chanichim have completed many fun projects: jellyfish bracelets, beaded lizard keychains, folded cards, and projects decorated with Washi tape (decorative tape made out of rice paper).

Emily Katz Shapiro, who is Rosh Omanut this month, remarked on the wonderful Omanut facilities, professional level of materials, and range of options available to the chanichim. She, too, is taken with the relaxed atmosphere of Omanut.

Some of the chuggim were taught by madrichim (counselors). Adeena Bromberg-Seltzer, a Kochavim counselor, enjoyed teaching Fabric Arts last month and Jewelry-Making this month. Fabric Arts included embroidery, sewing, silk painting and Sharpie tie-dye (a fun way to use Sharpie markers and alcohol to get tie-dye effects). Jewelry-Making involved simple and patterned beading, creating beads with polymer clay and wire work. In addition to loving to make art with chanichim, Adeena appreciated the opportunity to spend time with older campers for part of her work day.

The chanichim have created some spectacular artwork this summer – take a look at just a small sampling of their creativity in Omanut!