By Barbara Arnstein
Olmsted Camp in Sardinia, NY is a beautiful scenic spot, a hub for creativity and a historical treasure all rolled into one.
The main house has a large veranda that faces the magnificent view of Cattaraugus Creek and Blue Hill in the distance. There are other historic buildings on the property including small cabins (with cat pictures on their windows that keep away the woodpeckers). The gardens full of flowers now include peonies, foxglove and valerian, and the tree-lined trails down to the creek are surrounded by ferns, raspberry bushes and other scenic sights.
The Springville Center for the Arts (SCA) has the good fortune to be able to hold summer art classes there. On Saturday, July 1st a photography group enjoyed a combination hike/photography session. Everyone enjoyed the walk along the trails, and relaxing on the veranda later. One bird-watcher was delighted to capture an Indigo Bunting, a very blue bird with a lovely song, with her camera,
On July 10th, from 9:30am – 2:30pm, there will be a Plein Air (French for “open air”) art session at Olmsted Camp, led by artist Jennifer Koury. She will be showing her students how to add depth to their artwork and create composition. Each one can select their own spot to draw or paint in a sketchbook or on an easel and will get special attention from the instructor. Participants provide their own supplies, lunch & drink. The fee is $60. On July 15th, and July 29th, from 10am-1pm, Ms. Koury will be conducting watercolor classes at Art’s Cafe in Springville. The fee for each one is $45.
On July 18th, from noon to 3:30pm, fiber artist Mary Ann Fritz will be there teaching a class the art of Shibori, a textile dyeing technique which creates patterns that spread unevenly across the fabric. Students can bring any cotton items they want to dye. The fee is $40. On August 22nd, from noon to 3:30pm, Ms. Fritz is teaching students how to make a batik, which involves applying hot wax over parts of a design to vary the colors. The fee for this class is also $40.
For six generations, the Olmsted Family has kept the camp going, and it has always been involved in promoting the arts and preserving the historical significance of the area. Lia Oprea, who facilitates the art and writing workshops and mindfulness seminars there, is the President of the Sardinia Historical Society. For twenty-five years, she was an Expedition Leader on small Eco-Adventure travel ships and land trips for Lindblad Expeditions. “You could really say I was born into that job”, she said. “At the camp, I was always organizing plays, inner-tubing trips down Cattaraugus Creek and building treehouses.” These days, cousins pitch in to handle the maintenance, cooking, and so on.
Lia’s mother, Emily (Lee) Olmsted Roderick Oprea was one of the six founders of the WNY Land Conservancy, and was instrumental in forming the SCA along with Carol Mongerson and Mimo Fried. Emily moved to the camp full-time in 1984 and restored the gardens. The camp began around 1900 when Buffalo attorney John Bartow Olmsted brought his family to what was then known as the Rider-Hopkins Farm to fish and stay in tents. In 1908, his son Harold graduated from Harvard and immediately began designing buildings for the spot, which were built in 1910. In later years, Harold LeRoy Olmsted became a prominent N.Y. architect, landscape architect and artist and was very influenced by his family’s distant relative, Frederick Law Olmsted, who co-designed New York City’s Central Park, and was involved in creating America’s oldest state park, the Niagara Reservation in Niagara, Falls, NY, among other places. In 1998 the Rider-Hopkins Farm and Olmstead Camp were recognized for their historical and architectural significance, and placed on both the New York State and the national register of historic places. “I’m glad the camp brings creative people together, and people who otherwise would never have met”, said Lia.
For more information visit campolmsted.org.