By T. Scott Boatright
The inaugural Roots & Rhythm Arts & Harvest Camp, a free summer arts camp for more than 40 children entering grades 1-6 held in Grambling last week, brought a little Louisiana lagniappe, featuring local cultural traditions through visual arts, quilting, African dance, gardening, storytelling and cooking.
“Our camp is a little different than some arts camps because ours includes culture as well,” said Grambling City Councilwoman and Vice President of the North Central Louisiana Arts Council (NCLAC) DeVaria H. Ponton. “We had two sections. One was painting and watercolors and self-portraits, and the other section was the cultural component that included storytelling, agriculture, music and culinary traditions, and we wanted to provide a hands-on learning experience for the kids.”
Funding for the camp was provided by a grant through NCLAC via the LA Project grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, with additional funding coming from the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Grambling and Grow Grambling 501(c)(3).
Held from July 20-24, the week began with visual arts and quilting led by local quilter Hazel Hunter, who introduced campers to the history and cultural significance of quilting while guiding them through the quilting process.
Campers were able to create art on quilting pieces to be joined into one quilt.
“Hazel showed the students how to do quilting and also talked about the cultural significance in the Black community about quilting and how they were able to help slaves escape,” Ponton said.
According to legend, a safe house along the Underground Railroad was often indicated by a quilt hanging from a clothesline or windowsill. These quilts were embedded with a kind of code so that, by reading the shapes and motifs sewn into the design, an enslaved person on the run could know the area’s immediate dangers or even where to head next.
Throughout the week, professional artist Daija Essien led the Roots & Rhythm Camp’s visual arts component, exposing campers to a variety of artistic techniques, including cyanotype printing, an early cameraless photography process, self-portraits, watercolor painting and mixed-media projects.
The campers also drew whatever they wanted on quilting patches, with all of the patches being sewn together to create a quilt.
On the second day of the camp, Grambling native, registered nurse and former Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders captain LaTasha Ferguson and her daughter, Summer, conducted a dance workshop that included nutrition education.
Campers also enjoyed a special cultural drumming demonstration that day by Grambling State University students Atakora Yeboah and Andrew Opoku, who both hail from Ghana.
“Students were able to listen to rhythmic Ghanaian tunes and some were also able to play the drums,” Ponton said.
On Day 3 of the camp, retired educator Remonia Hudson taught campers how to make traditional pepper sauce using fresh peppers while sharing the cultural significance and family traditions behind the recipe.
“We made pepper sauce,” Ponton said. “My mom came out and we were able to make authentic pepper sauce. We talked about the creation of pepper sauce in the 1700s by those who were enslaved, who brought the tradition from Africa and were able to help the sauce make food more palatable for those who were enslaved.”
The fourth day of the camp saw campers visit Exodus Family Farms, where owner Deidra Scott introduced them to the history of Black farmers in the Grambling area. Campers fed goats, cows, pigs and donkeys, planted their own herb seedlings to take home, and learned about duties and responsibilities on a farm.
A Roots & Rhythm Exhibition at the Grambling Community Center wrapped up the last day of the camp and allowed the campers to showcase the artwork, crafts and projects they created throughout the week.
“It was a great week,” Ponton said. “It was a great inaugural camp, and we are already looking forward to making it even bigger and better next year.”
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