My heart is with Camp Newman.

This week we had some very sad news – our beloved Camp Newman was destroyed by wildfires... and yet, we will rebuild, somehow. We are #newmanstrong. As the camp website puts it, "Camp Newman is more than just buildings. It is a community built on the memories of 70 glorious summers." With that in mind I wanted to share a few photos from my 11 summers at Camp Newman – some of the work made by campers in my Hagigah papercutting and mosaic workshops over the years.

One of my first mural projects at Camp Newman was in 2009
with a bunch of staff kids, while we struggled with the "Swine '09" debacle.
(Yes, that's a thermometer in the pig's mouth.)

Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik (my wife) and I working on a live painting
to accompany a story from Rabbi Paul Kipnes.

2010 camper work

A group "shin" project for workshop students in 2011,
which we gave to the camp as a gift.

Working with campers in 2012

For "Faculty Art Night" in 2012 we made papercut mezuzot for the camp.

Detail from 2012 "Faculty Art Night" mezuzah.

2013 camper work

2013 camper workshop group project: "Kehillah Kedoshah" (Holy Community)

Sometimes we'd make a little guerila stencil art for camp...

2014 "Ma Tovu" mosaic made by Hagigah campers for one of the new cabins

2015 campers hard at work in the Hagigah Building

2015 camper work

2015 camper work

In 2016 campers made a "Miriam's Well" mosaic –
and we had a faculty mosaic night to share the fun!

2016 camper work

The finished "Miriam's Well" mosaic in place around a water bottle refilling station.

2017 camper work

2017 camper work

The 2017 Hagigah campers made a "Tallit Blessing" mosaic for the new cabins

At work with campers in 2017

For the 2017 "70th Anniversary Celebration" we made a mosaic featuring the 70th logo.

URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs (center) and Rabbi Shawna B2 (right)
working together on the anniversary mosaic.

You can help rebuild Camp Newman – visit campnewman.org/support-newman/newmanstrong to contribute to #newmanstrong!