09/13/2023
This summer, OMSI's Camp Gray collaborated with the Lincoln County Historical Society to design and install a mural at the Pacific Marine Heritage Center in Newport, Oregon!
Why do you feel connected to a place? Is it because of the people? The land? The experiences? How does this feeling of connection transform into a sense of belonging?
Campers attending Camp Gray are there for a week, the days full of running and digging at the beach, watching birds and seals, following the trails in the dunes and forests, and playing games with cabin mates.
Within each of those activities are needs for acceptance, inclusion, and compassion. When we address these needs intentionally every day with every person, we build a community where everyone belongs.
The Camp Gray whale mural at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center started as a flat image but grew throughout the summer, gaining texture and complexity with the contribution of every individual that attended Camp Gray. That texture embodies our reflections on this phrase: “I feel connected to Camp Gray because…”
After writing their response on a sheet of origami paper, the campers folded the paper into a barnacle and glued it to the week’s section of our whale. Each barnacle is a connection to the communities we built with each week’s participants. Altogether, nine segments hold 349 campers’ barnacles and the section with the eye holds all of the OMSI staff and the guest instructors from partner organizations.
So what are some of the ways our campers feel connected to Camp Gray?
“I feel connected because of all the adventurous things I have done while I was here.”
“I feel connected because we work together like a team or a big family.”
“I feel connected because Camp Gray is connected to the wild and it feels like home.”
See the barnacle party for yourself at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center, on view with the exhibit The Curious World of Seaweed through October 1. And ask yourself, how do you feel when you belong?
Did your camper go to Camp Gray this summer? Find their barnacle in the collaborative mural: https://brnw.ch/21wCwgF
