‘The Department of Objects’ Brings the Charm of Sleep-Away Camp to Chicago
Wyatt Hersey, Melissa Lakey, Esther Pearl Watson, and Anna Valdez joined Joy Machine at Camp Wandawega for five days of arctic magic. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘The Department of Objects’ Brings the Charm of Sleep-Away Camp to Chicago appeared first on Colossal .
For over a decade, Jeroen Smeets of The Jaunt has been taking artists on week-long residencies to remote corners of the globe, fostering inspiration through travel. In 2024, Smeets introduced Winter Camp, uniting four artists in a winter retreat designed to foster creative cross-pollination. This year, Joy Machine and The Jaunt expanded Winter Camp to the Midwest, bringing four artists from California to the frigid Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
The artists—Wyatt Hersey, Melissa Lakey, Esther Pearl Watson, and Anna Valdez—spent five days immersed in winter activities, including sledding and snowball fights, at temperatures of a frigid 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Camp Wandawega, a historic site dating back over a century, began as a speakeasy and brothel during Prohibition before becoming a summer camp run by the Latvian Catholic church.
Today, it offers a traditional sleepaway camp experience that embraces Americana and nostalgia, providing a rare respite from digital distractions. The artists discovered a treasure trove of camp memorabilia in the Department of Objects, a cozy attic storage space filled with vintage items that became a wellspring of inspiration for their artwork.
The Department of Objects at Camp Wandawega serves as the inspiration for this exhibition, which opens with a reception on October 23.
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